Overview
- Two children were swept by a wave at La Laja beach in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria while playing near the shore, lifeguards rescued an 11-year-old boy and a large search was launched for the girl.
- Rescuers from local lifeguard services, Salvamento Marítimo, the emergency services and Guardia Civil’s Grupo Especial de Actividades Subacuáticas (GEAS) recovered the 12-year-old’s body about 200 metres off the coast.
- The girl has been identified as Fabiola Mbulito Bjombe, born 3 March 2014, a youth player in the Spar Gran Canaria system who had recently been called to the Selección Española U12 Femenina technification campus in Zaragoza.
- The Gobierno de Canarias had placed several islands under a coastal prealert for strong northeast winds of 50–61 km/h and combined waves that in places could reach about 2 to 3.25 metres, a warning officials said is relevant to the incident.
- The death has caused deep shock across Gran Canaria and in the Canary Islands basketball community, and official bodies including the regional federation and the Spanish Basketball Federation have offered condolences as authorities review safety messaging for hazardous sea conditions.