23 September 2023 , 09:23
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This is the terrifying moment lifeguards in a tiny dinghy pluck a teenage girl from a raging sea after she fell in while taking selfies and was then followed by her boyfriend, who was swept away while trying to save her.
Luana Araujo de Souza, 18, had tumbled into the water off a cliff in Brazil and was moments away from being battered against rocks on September 17. Tragically her boyfriend, named as 18-year-old Daniel Jose Mendes dos Santos, is still missing and presumed dead after jumping in to save her. His cousin told local media he had been clinging to rocks while they tried to rescue Luana, but could not hold on any longer.
Nail-biting footage shows the moment the 19-year-old is rescued (Newsflash)Nailbiting footage of Luana's rescue off Praia da Enseada beach, in Guaruja, on Sao Paulo's coast, shows the dinghy almost engulfed by violent waves. The footage, filmed on a helmet cam by Marine Fire Brigade lifeguards, shows the waves churning around like a giant washing machine as she struggles to stay afloat. Rescuers pulled her aboard into the dinghy. An older man who managed to help her up until the rescuers reached her was also saved.
Luana's boyfriend Daniel Jos Mendes dos Santos, who was swept out to sea (Newsflash)Daniel's cousin Vinicius Mendes, who was with the couple, told local media: "They were struggling to try to get out of there and an elderly man who saw everything managed to hold her for a while. A lifeguard appeared, swam there, from what they said it was a difficult place to access, and threw a buoy to Luana. Just as he turned to throw it to Daniel, another wave hit and he couldn't resist it, he had already fought hard to keep holding onto the rocks."
He added: "We are desperate and don't know what to do. We tried calling hospitals, but we couldn't get any news.
"Daniel grew up with me in Novo Cruzeiro he didn't know how to swim. We went to the waterfall, we went swimming in the river, I tried to teach him, but he never managed to learn."
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About three hours later, another young man, Nicolas Rocha Assencio Araujo, aged 20, disappeared in the waters off nearby Praia Branca, also in Guaruja, according to reports. His body was found later the same day close to where he had disappeared. The police and the Sao Paulo Fire Department are reportedly still searching for Daniel.