British man drowns with fiancee on Italian beach

A BRITISH man and his fiancee are thought to have drowned after he tried to save her while on holiday in Sicily.

Andrew Sturgess, 34, and Carmen Spiridon, 25, died despite the efforts of off-duty lifeguards who pulled them from the sea.

Officials said neither was a strong swimmer and they were working on the theory that Mr Sturgess tried to save his partner when she got into trouble in treacherous shifting sands.

The alarm was raised by a woman on the beach at Tre Fontane, near Campobello in southwest Sicily, who noticed a body in the water.

Her screams alerted the guards, who dived into the sea and pulled Mr Sturgess to the beach. They tried to resuscitate him without success.

Minutes later the body of Miss Spiridon was brought to shore.

The couple had been due to fly back to their home in Stoke-onTrent yesterday after a week in Italy at the home of Miss Spiridon’s mother.

Mr Sturgess was the manager of a hydraulic company in Stoke while his Romanian-born fiancee worked as a waitress.

Yesterday, Captain Fabio Manzo said: ‘The area of beach is public

‘Nothing could be done’

and there are no lifeguards or watch towers, but screams from a woman on the beach alerted two off-duty lifeguards who dived into the water.

‘They pulled the man’s body out first and then tried to revive him but there was nothing that could be done.

‘Then a few minutes later the woman’s body was spotted and she too was pulled from the water. Both had water in their lungs and died from drowning.

‘ The woman’s mother l i ved locally and they were on holiday with her for the week. I have been to see her and she is obviously very upset. She told me they were engaged.’

He added: ‘ The water was not rough at the time but from what we have established neither was a strong swimmer and there are awkward currents in the area.

‘They had been spotted playing around in the water just a few minutes beforehand. That area of coastline has a strange current and the sand is also very soft there.’

A Foreign Office spokesman said it was offering assistance to Mr Sturgess’s family.