A British tourist has been rushed to hospital after falling from the second floor of his Lanzarote hotel and landing in a knee-deep fish pond filled with Koi carp and terrapins.
Firefighters and medical staff rescued the holidaymaker after the incident at the five-star H10 Rubicon Horizons Collection in the popular resort of Playa Blanca, on Lanzarote, Spain.
The alarm was raised around 11:30pm on Saturday, April 18.
The water in the fish pond the 70-year-old man fell into, thought to be two floors below street level by a hotel buffet restaurant, was only about 15 inches deep.
Details of the drama emerged at the weekend but well-placed sources only confirmed his age and nationality late yesterday.
One said: “It’s being treated as an accident. It appears he was on the second floor with his wife and peered down to take a look at the fish pond below before losing his balance and falling.”
Medical staff had already fitted the elderly tourist with a neck brace by the time firefighters arrived. They lifted him out on a rescue board they had strapped him onto before taking him to a waiting ambulance.
He was then evacuated to Molina Orosa Hospital in the Lanzarote capital Arrecife.
It was not immediately clear today what his current condition is.
Local police and Civil Guard officers were also mobilised by a regional government emergency response coordination centre following the incident.
The hotel where the holidaymaker was hurt, which recently changed its name from the H10 Rubicon Palace, said it would not be saying anything because of “client confidentiality”.
Playa Blanca is Lanzarote’s southernmost town and is very popular with British tourists.