By GB News (World News) | Created at 2026-09-22 01:00:51 | Updated at 2026-09-22 02:06:50
1 hour ago
A British tourist is missing after diving into Lake Como to save a teenage boy and his father.
The search began after the 37-year-old man, who has not been named by authorities, attempted to make the rescue at 1.30pm CEST (12.30pm BST).
He was on a boat with the father, mother and their two sons moored off the small commune of Dongo.
The father and older son, 16, swam from the rented vessel but soon began to struggle - and the Briton jumped in to help them, Italian media reported.
A passing boat was able to rescue the father and son, but the tourist vanished below the surface of the Lombardy lake.
The recovered duo showed early signs of hypothermia and were transferred onto an Italian Coast Guard boat.
Helicopters, divers, and rescue boats were deployed in the search, but have so far been unsuccessful.
Coast Guard Units from Milan have been called in to help with the search in tandem with two underwater drones, according to local outlet Prima Como.
Six drowning have been reported at Lake Como this summer
GETTY
Investigators from the third Lake Como Coast Guard Unit are trying to reconstruct the sequence of events, and have launched a probe into the boat rental firm.
The section of Lake Como being searched ranges in depth from 150 metres to over 200.
Six drownings have already been reported at the iconic lake this summer.
These include a nine-year-old girl who was swimming near the Tempio Voltiano, a museum, in July.
In May, a 15-year-old drowned in Lake Como after diving from a pier on a rowing club.
Lake Como, like nearby Lake Garda and Lake Maggiore, was formed by a glacier and is deceptively cold.
Around 30 per cent of all inland water drownings in Italy are in the Lombardy region.
In 2024, British holidaymaker Sam Rigby, 21, drowned after he and his girlfriend took a swim from a rented boat on the lake.
The man was on a boat off Dongo, Italy (pictured) with the teenager, his father, his mother, and younger brother
WIKIMEDIA / BKLUIS
Strong gusts made the boat drift away, stranding them both.
His girlfriend was picked up by a passing boat before Mr Rigby's body was found by rescuers.
And in 2022, 51-year-old Aran Chada drowned in Lake Garda while attempting to save his son, who was struggling to stay afloat.
Robot submarines took 26 days to locate his body, found lying over 300 metres below the surface of the lake.
