Twelve-year-old girl drowns at Costacabana beach in Almería as coast records two deaths

Alert and rescue at Costacabana

A tragic afternoon on the Almería coast began to unfold when the Andalusian emergency services coordination centre (112) received a call at 18:55 on Saturday. A bather had lost sight of a minor while swimming at Costacabana beach, within the city limits of Almería. Within minutes, a full-scale response was activated, involving agents of the National Police and Local Police, an ambulance from the 061 health emergency service, a Maritime Rescue vessel, Civil Protection volunteers and the municipal beach safety team. The search in the water was brief: Maritime Rescue located the girl, brought her aboard and then transferred her to the shore. She was still alive upon arrival, but the paramedics launched cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) immediately. Despite prolonged efforts, they were unable to revive her, and she was pronounced dead at about 19:30 hours. A spokesperson for the Almería Provincial Police Station later confirmed the fatality.

Victim's age and investigation

Sources diverged on the child's age in the immediate aftermath. While the newspaper ABC reported that the victim was a girl of just 12 years old, citing emergency services, other outlets, including Europa Press and El Mundo, noted that the age had yet to be officially confirmed. Police are treating the death as a drowning, according to early indications, but formal causes will be established once the investigative body completes its inquiries. The National Police noted that while drowning is the presumed cause, the exact circumstances will be clarified by the investigating unit.

A second tragedy in Carboneras

Saturday's tragedy was compounded by an earlier incident along the same coastline. About two hours before the call from Costacabana, a 31-year-old woman died at Carboneras beach, some 40 kilometres east of Almería city. ABC reported that she found herself unable to exit the water and, although fellow beachgoers and emergency personnel rushed to help, she was declared dead at the scene. The sequence of two drownings within a single afternoon turned the day into a grim one for local emergency services and the community.

Coastal safety in early summer

The deaths occurred on a mid-June Saturday, as temperatures begin to climb in southern Spain and beach attendance rises ahead of the official summer season. No details were immediately available about the presence or absence of lifeguards at either beach, nor about sea conditions at the time. The incidents come amid a long-standing concern in Spain over drowning fatalities, particularly among minors and non-swimmers, which often spike with the arrival of warm weather.