Le Figaro Nice
A free diver from the Riviera has been missing since Monday morning, despite significant resources deployed to try to find him in the Villefranche-sur-Mer harbor area, near Nice (Alpes-Maritimes).
The forty-year-old would have left in the night, around 2 a.m., from “la Pointe passable”, in the neighboring town of Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, to
“go and train”
in these famous waters on the Côte d'Azur , we learn from the police.
Around 10 a.m., the alert of his disappearance was given and relayed to the Mediterranean regional operational surveillance and safeguarding center (Cross Med) based in Toulon, in the Var.
He coordinates the rescue.
The launch and the underwater teams of the Maralpin firefighters then set off on the site, as did the Antibes nautical brigade.
The French Navy’s “Dauphin” helicopter was even dispatched from Hyères to support rescue at sea.
Reinforced means in vain
That day, rough conditions due to wind and a disturbance did not allow the search to be extended beyond 3 p.m.
No trace of this individual even though a
“fairly large area”
had been chosen.
On Tuesday, operations resumed with even reinforced resources, specifies the Alpes-Maritimes gendarmerie.
The investigation was entrusted to the territorial brigade of Beaulieu-sur-Mer, a coastal town not far away.
Divers from the specialized Martigues brigade went to explore the depths of the harbor, also in vain.
The use of sonar by the Antibes gendarmes also failed to detect the slightest sign of a human presence.
As night fell, the search was once again interrupted as the chances of finding this free diver diminished.