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A British brother and sister who drowned off a beach on the north-eastern coast of Spain have been named as Ameiya Del Brocco, 13, and 11-year-old Ricardo Junior.
Their father, Ricardo Senior, who had also entered the water, was rescued by local emergency services after the incident during a family holiday in the Catalan town of Salou on Tuesday.
Ameiya, known as Maya, and Ricardo Junior, known as Jubs, were “two beautiful, bright, and deeply loved children, taken far too soon”, their cousin Holly Marquis-Johnson said. “The pain their family is feeling is unimaginable.”
She said: “Maya was intelligent, thoughtful, and growing into a strong young woman. Ricardo Junior was playful, kind, and always smiling. They brought so much love, laughter, and energy into the lives of everyone around them. Their absence has left an unbearable silence not just for their parents, but for their whole family, who were incredibly close and shared an unbreakable bond.”
Kayla Jasvinder Del-Brocco, the children’s aunt, told BirminghamLive her niece and nephew had been swept away from the beach by powerful currents. “They went out to swim together with their dad as they loved the beach. Mum said ‘don’t be long’ and took her little one to the bathroom. She came back out and couldn’t see anyone. That’s when the nightmare commenced.”
Emergency services were called to Llarga beach, near Tarragona, shortly after 8.45pm local time on Tuesday, Catalonia’s civil protection agency has said. Ricardo Senior remains in hospital after being pulled from the water unconscious, it was reported.
Jose Luis Gargallo, the head of the local police force in Salou, said on Wednesday: “There were three people who were having serious difficulty getting out of the sea. There was a father with his son and daughter, of British nationality.
“When they got out, both of them, the boy and girl, aged 11 and 13, showed no signs of life. Attempts were made to resuscitate them with CPR, but they were unsuccessful.
“The father, fortunately, was able to be saved. He had swallowed a lot of water, he was exhausted, very fatigued, but the father was able to be saved thanks to the emergency services.”
A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office spokesperson said: “We are supporting the family of two British children who have died in Spain and are in contact with the local authorities.”
Marquis-Johnson has set up a fundraiser to help with the cost of repatriation.
