Search for missing tourist wound down for night

The search for a teenage tourist who was washed into the sea in west Cork has been wound down for the night.

The 19-year-old non-Irish national was swept into the water this morning while taking photos with a friend near Baltimore Harbour.

A spokesperson for Baltimore Lifeboat Station said the young man, who was on a weekend visit to Baltimore, had been walking along the seashore under the cliffs with a friend when he was overcome by a wave and washed out to sea.

The friend immediately raised the alarm at a nearby house.

The lifeboats were alerted at just after 8am and proceeded to the area, near a place known locally as Spain, where the man was last seen.

A coast guard helicopter joined in the search and later the Navy vessel the LE Roisin, which took over command of the search.

"Although weather conditions were good, the search was hazardous as it involved getting close into shore under steep cliffs with a heavy draw," the spokesperson said.

The search will resume tomorrow at 8am.