A British man is believed to have drowned in Lake Garda after diving to save his teenage son.
The man, 51-year-old Aran Chada, rented a boat with his two children and partner on an Italian lake near Limone on Friday.
The family live in the village of Woodhouse Eaves, near Loughborough, Leicestershire, and are believed to have just started a holiday that includes his birthday on Tuesday, The Times reported.
They were about 500 meters (0.3 miles) from the shore when Mr Chada’s 14-year-old son had an underwater incident so he dived and tried to push him towards the boat to save him, the coast guard said. sea said.
Mr. Chada then got into trouble and slipped into the water, and has not been seen since.
An eyewitness told Italian media: “We were about 100 meters from the shore when we heard a woman screaming for help.
“I looked over and she was on a boat with two kids screaming and pointing in the water, so we called emergency services and they came very quickly.”
Coast Guard Commander Antonello Ragadale said: “This man is a hero and we fear he drowns, but we are doing everything we can to find his body.”
A coastguard spokesman said: “The family rented a boat from a local company for two and a half hours.
“The man dived to save his eldest son who was in distress and tried to push him back into the boat but then he crashed.
“Friday afternoon was very hot, but the water was more than ten degrees cold, so it was possible that he had a convulsion from shock.
“The search went on for almost seven hours and stopped when it got dark, but it has now continued.
“The family are staying in their hotel with police and a psychologist has been provided to them for support.”
The temperature has been around 31 degrees Celsius for the past week in Lake Garda.
A spokesman for the Foreign Office said: “We are assisting the family of a British man who has been reported missing in Italy and is in contact with Italian police.”
Lake Garda. File photo
Lifeboats, divers, robotic submarines and helicopters are all joining the search for the 34-mile-long lake, some 364m (1,135ft) deep.
Mr. Chada’s LinkedIn profile says he is group sales manager at Global Energy Ventures, which provides specialist services to the oil industry in West Africa.
There have been a number of drownings in Lake Garda recently, with divers looking for Mr Chada just returning from searching for a recently missing Italian man.
Another Italian man drowned in a lake earlier this month.
In 2017, Gary John Wood, 37, of London, died trying to swim a mile after a sudden storm created waves 6ft high. His body was restored by a robot.
