Tragedy as body is found in hunt for missing Brit, 18, after she disappeared while swimming with friends off Dutch beach
- Four swimmers got into difficulty off Zuiderstrand in the Hague on Sunday night
A body has been found off a Dutch beach in the search for a British teenager who went missing while swimming with her friends.
Four swimmers got into difficulty while swimming in the North Sea off the seaside resort of Scheveningen in The Hague at around 8.30pm on Sunday evening.
Three were rescued but a fourth, reported to have been a 18-year-old woman from the UK, was not found.
Rescuers said there was little hope that she would be found alive after they searched for two hours and failed to locate her.
Although investigations are ongoing, it is believed that the person found last night is likely to be the missing British teenager, according to local media.
Picture shows the search for the missing swimmer in the sea near Scheveningen, Netherlands
Emergency teams search for the missing swimmer in the sea near Scheveningen, Netherlands
It is believed that the three people who were rescued on Sunday had tried to save the teenager, before getting into difficulties themselves.
An eyewitness who saw the the drama unfold said that two of the boys had injuries to the legs and were covered in blood.
They added that there was an older woman there who was apparently the mother of one of the kids who was 'panicking and screaming'.
The local person said the boys would have had no chance to save the teenager, as the water was too wild and impassable. 'The boys barely survived,' they said.
It is believed the injuries were caused when they were swept against the rocky pier that forms the harbour that separates the Ijduin and Scheveningen Beaches in The Hague.
According to The Hague's fire department, the group had been near Zuidelijk Havenhoofd, a green lighthouse and popular tourist spot on the southern pier.
A body was found at sea last night, Regio15 reports, and a lifeboat was called to recover it.
Police were also on the scene after reports of the discovery came in at around 7pm.
