A LONDON-BASED Northern Irishman has drowned while on a family holiday at the popular Italian resort of Lake Garda.
The 37-year-old man, who was originally from Belfast but had been living in East London, drowned while swimming on Saturday afternoon, July 22.
It's understood the man was on holiday with his wife, mother, sister and brother-in-law in the San Felice del Benaco area.
According to local news reports, the man had decided to swim the one mile distance out to the Isola dei Conigli on Lake Garda with two family members when he came into difficulty just 300m from the island.
The two relatives raised the alarm when they reached the shore, and rescue volunteers, police and firefighters began the search aided by a helicopter.
However, around 4pm that afternoon after a five-hour search, the body of the Northern Irish man was recovered 22 metres below the water surface.
The British Foreign Office have said: “We are providing support to the family of a British man who sadly died in Italy.”
