Body found in search for Briton, 23, who went missing while swimming in Portugal

Portuguese police said late on Tuesday a body, believed to be that of the missing man, was recovered on Tuesday afternoon off the coast of Albufeira.

A body has been found in the search for a British man who went missing while swimming in the sea in Portugal last week, local authorities said.

Portugal’s National Maritime Authority said the 23-year-old disappeared on Thursday while swimming at Peneco Beach in Albufeira, on Portugal’s southern coast.

Portuguese police said late on Tuesday a body, believed to be that of the missing man, was recovered on Tuesday afternoon off the coast of Albufeira.

“Following an alert at 6.37 pm from a fisherman in the vicinity, officers from the Portimao Local Maritime Police Command, the Albufeira Volunteer Firefighters’ Humanitarian Association and the Albufeira Municipal Civil Protection Service were mobilised,” Portuguese police said in a statement.

“On arrival at the scene, members of the Maritime Police, in collaboration with the Fire Brigade, transported the victim to Albufeira Marina.” A local Maritime Police official said: “Death was confirmed at the scene and, following contact with the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the body was transported by the Fire Brigade to the National Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences of the Western Algarve.

“The British Consulate in Portimao was contacted and informed of the incident.

“The Maritime Police’s Portimao Local Command took charge of the incident.” The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has been contacted for comment.

A search had been underway for the missing man since last Friday, according to the National Maritime Authority.

The service previously said the 23-year-old had been accompanied by a 19-year-old British national “who apparently managed to get out of the water by his own means to seek help after which the other one disappeared”.