A British man and a beach worker died at an Italian resort after trying to help the tourist’s daughter who got into difficulties in rough seas.
The 11-year-old girl had been playing in the sea with her grandfather at a beach at Ostuni on the south-east coast near Brindisi.
When the pair struggled in a strong current, the girl’s father and the local worker rushed to their aid.
But they too were overcome by the waves and rescuers struggled to reach them.
The girl and her grandfather were eventually brought to safety, the BBC reported.
The British tourist has not been officially identified, but local media named him as 48-year-old Simon Alessandro Pearson.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office said it was “supporting the family of a British man following his death”.
The local worker has been identified as Martino Maggi, 49.
They were both rescued alive but died shortly afterwards despite attempts by rescue workers to save them, according to local reports.
The incident took place at about 10am local time yesterday at Bosco Verde beach.
Officials say the sea there is notorious for a strong north-easterly wind and local reports suggest the two men who died were unable to get back to the shore because of the strength of the current.
“That stretch of coastline unfortunately isn’t new to this kind of tragedy,” Giuseppe Chiarelli of the Brindisi port authority told Rai TV.