A 19-year-old woman met her death in the Cubillas Reservoir yesterday, just to the north of the city of Granada within the municipality of Atarfe.

Around 16.00h Saturday afternoon the 112, emergency, call centre receive alerts from several witnesses at the scene. They said that the woman had entered the water, gone under and not reappeared.

The Granada fire service (who have divers) and the Guardia Civil’s specialised unit, the Grupo Especial de Actividades Subacuáticas (GEAS) as well as a helicopter were involved both in the search and the recovery of the body.

The victim’s body was found just a few metres from the shore. The Guardia Civil are now investigating what caused the woman to drown.

Editorial comment: reservoirs are very dangerous places to swim; even more so than rivers. As they are flooded, very often steep-sided valleys, there is a big temperature difference between the lower and upper levels of water, causing strong currents that can form small whirlpools and pull the unwary down.

(News: Atarfe, City & Metropolitan Area, Granada, Andalucia)