the baïnes required the rescue of 18 people

On amateur images, we can see the scene of the delicate rescue operation, Saturday August 20 in Biarritz (Pyrénées-Atlantiques). A diver jumps from the police helicopter and manages to pull one of the bathers out of the raging ocean. With him, a jet-ski is busy repatriating as many people as possible. “I turned towards the beach, I saw that I was very far away and that I probably couldn’t come back because of the currents. I was very afraid“, confides Paul Prétéché, survivor of the drowning.

“It was extremely stressful. Right away, we imagine the worst“, testifies the mother of Paul Prétéché, present on the beach. In total, 18 people were saved from drowning​, in a fortunately supervised area. All escape unscathed, but many are shocked. The situation could have led to a tragedy, without the rapid intervention of the rescuers. An extremely rare operation, some of them having never even seen this. On the Aquitaine coast, five people have died carried away by currents of baïnes since the beginning of the summer.