Two young friends drown at resort

TWO young Irish friends drowned yesterday in a French seaside resort where hours earlier more than a dozen people had to be rescued from the water.

Heather Young, 19, and Janet Nicholson, 21, both from Dublin, died after being swept out to sea by the strong Atlantic current while bathing off Biarritz on France's south west coast.

Officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Irish Embassy in Paris were yesterday assisting their families in making arrangements to travel to Biarritz to bring their loved ones' remains home.