A “professional swimmer” who swam across the Channel from England to France under supervision on Tuesday has been reported missing. The maritime prefecture reports this, adding that the search was called off after a few hours.
“The Gris-Nez Operations Center for Surveillance and Rescue (CROSS) was informed during the day of the disappearance off the coast of Cap Gris-Nez and quickly deployed a French and a Belgian military army helicopter, as well as a patrol boat of the French Navy, a coastal patrol boat of the Gendarmerie and a lifeboat of the French national rescue service SNSM,” the maritime prefecture responsible for the Channel and the North Sea said in a press release.
In the absence of further information and because the area where the swimmer was believed to have gone missing had already been fully searched for several hours, it was decided to call off the search after six hours.
The swimmer’s identity and age are currently unknown, a spokesman said. Such crossings, which must be accompanied by a guide, are only permitted from England, and never from France, the spokesman added.
On Tuesday, the departments in the north of France were code yellow for thunderstorms.
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