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Rescued UK tourist says she tried to swim to passing ship UK tourist rescued after ‘trying to swim to cruise ship’
(35 minutes later)
LISBON, Portugal — An official in Portugal’s Madeira Islands says a 65-year-old British woman told police she tried to swim out to her passing cruise ship in the dark before being rescued by fishermen after four hours in the sea. LISBON, Portugal — A 65-year-old British woman told police in Portugal’s Madeira Islands she tried to swim out to her passing cruise ship in the mistaken belief that her husband was on board before being rescued by fishermen after four hours in the sea, an official said Monday.
Felix Marques, harbor captain at Madeira’s Funchal port, said Susan Brown told maritime police that she and her husband decided Saturday to fly home early from their cruise which had stopped over in Madeira. Susan Brown told maritime police that she and her husband had decided Saturday to fly home early from their cruise aboard the Marco Polo which had stopped over that day in Madeira, Felix Marques, harbor captain at Madeira’s Funchal port, said.
However, Marques said she later lost sight of him at Funchal airport and that she had tried to swim back to the ship after she saw it sailing away, thinking that her husband might have been on board. However, Marques said Brown told police she later lost sight of her husband at Funchal airport after they argued and was “feeling desperate.”
Marques said Monday that Brown was taken to hospital with advanced hypothermia and is currently in a psychiatric ward. She said she had tried to swim out to the ship from an area by the seaside airport when she saw it sailing out of Funchal in the evening, thinking that her husband might have been on board, according to Marques. Police have since ascertained that her husband boarded a flight to Bristol, England.
Brown only had her handbag with her when a local fishing boat came across her in the Atlantic after midnight, Marques said.
The sea temperature in the archipelago off northwest Africa was 18 degrees Celsius (64 Fahrenheit). She was taken to hospital with advanced hypothermia and was later moved to a psychiatric ward, Marques said.
Police intend to interview her a second time.
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.