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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
World
Alice Amelia Thomas & Ryan Merrifield

Fears for British pensioner after he disappears while snorkelling with his wife in Bali

A search and rescue operation is underway for a British pensioner who was swept out to sea while snorkelling with his wife in Indonesia.

Graham Smith went missing while swimming in the pristine waters of the Blue Lagoon Beach resort in the Karangasem Regency in Bali, on Wednesday afternoon.

The 68-year-old's panic-stricken partner, who has not been named, informed local authorities of his disappearance around 5.30pm, an hour after she reportedly exited the water.

A major search operation began a few hours later at 8.25pm, according to the coordinator of the Karangasem Search and Rescue Team, Gusti Ngurah Eka Widnyana.

He said: "The search for the victim is still being carried out by a joint team. So far, the victim has not been found."

Have you been affected by this incident? Let us know at webnews@mirror.co.uk

Rescue crews are searching for the pensioner (Newsflash)

This was after Widnyana reportedly dispatched six rescue team members to the area in a speedboat.

Gede Darmada, the head of the Bali Basarnas government office, told local media that the search area for the missing Brit was divided into three sections on Thursday.

He added: "Yesterday's search yielded no results, and today the search and rescue operation began this morning."

Mr Smith was snorkelling when he disappeared (Newsflash)

Widnyana went on to say that he hopes Mr Smith is found as soon as possible.

Local media reports officials had encouraged snorkelers to be mindful of the ever-changing weather conditions in the province.

They referred to a similar incident involving a 44-year-old Italian woman who miraculously survived being hit by a powerful wave at Klungkung Beach in June.

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