Brits killed ‘taking selfie’ in Spain ‘lost balance and pulled each other down’
Two British tourists who died trying to take a selfie at a Spanish beauty spot lost their balance and pulled the other down, investigators believe.
Police probing the deaths of pals Daniel Mee and Jayden Dolman, who died at Punta Prima beach, believe one pulled the other down after losing his balance and desperately trying to hold on.
The pair had climbed the wrong side of railings on a raised seafront promenade to take selfies with a third friend.
Officers preparing a report for an investigating judge are working on the theory one of the men lost his balance and tried to cling on to his pal’s arm in an instinctive life-saving reaction – but instead of recovering his footing unintentionally ended up taking his friend with him.
Plummer Daniel, 25, and student Jayden, 20, both from Bridgwater, Somerset, plunged around 40 feet to the ground at the beach near the resort of Torrevieja, at around 7.15pm on Wednesday.
Daniel died at the scene and Jayden died yesterday morning after being airlifted to Alicante Hospital and admitted to an intensive care unit.
A third man was physically unharmed but was extremely distressed.
He is thought to have been on the right side of the railings when the tragedy happened.
Investigators have already interviewed him and other witnesses as part of their investigation.
An eyewitness, who didn't want to be named, said she saw the third man in a "terrible state" on the promenade.
She told Mirror Online: "He was begging and screaming at me. He said 'you're the only one talking to me in English'. He said 'I'm begging you to help me'.
"Police were taking him to a secluded part so he wouldn't see his friends dying."
"He was in hysterics," she continued. "He was in a very very bad state.
"The policeman said 'we are going to look after him'.
"He was saying 'please tell me they're OK'.
"It's a terrible day. Even the policeman said it's a bad day for Punta Prima."
The pair's family have travelled to Spain so they can organise the repatriation of their bodies.
Jayden’s cousin paid tribute to him in an emotional Facebook page late last night.
Nicola Rea, a Derby-based nurse, said: “Taken far too soon. We are all so devastated to lose such a beautiful young man. My heart is breaking for my cousin and family right now. RIP Jayden Dolman.”
Earlier she had written: “I am beyond devastated. My darling Jayden gone too soon. RIP my little angel.”
Another friend of the pair added: “RIP Jayden Dolman and Dan Mee. Absolutely gutted. Fly high.”
The next door neighbour of Jayden, who lived with his mother Kadina Dolman and is believed to work at Bridgwater and Taunton College, described him as “a really lovely boy."
"Very polite, extremely well-mannered," she said.
He added: “It’s a real shame when that happens to anyone, but especially a young lad who’s got everything ahead of him.”
Rodney Hale, who lives next door to Daniel's mother Suzanne Mee, said: “He’s a lovely boy.
“I’ve known him since we was about 13 or 14, he used to skateboard up and down the road. He always went up to the skate park.”
Simon Davenport, who arrived at the scene as paramedics battled to save the older Brit, told Mirror Online the men were taking a selfie when they fell over a security barrier and plunged to the concrete below.
The 32-year-old teacher said: "There were some older local ladies there when these blokes had tried to take some photos. They said [the men] were trying to take selfies."
A Foreign Office spokesman said after it emerged Jayden had died in hospital: “We are supporting the families of two British men following their deaths in Alicante, and are in contact with the Spanish authorities.
"Another British man was involved in the accident, and we are also providing assistance.”
Wednesday evening’s double tragedy occurred less than three days after Luke Freeman, 19, from Reading, Berks, died after plunging from holiday apartments in the Costa Brava resort of Lloret de Mar.
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