A search was continuing yesterday for a young Dublin woman who was swept away by strong currents while swimming with a friend in Ecuador, writes Chris Dooley.
Ms Aideen Redmond, from Ranelagh, has been missing since Tuesday when she got into difficulties while swimming with another Irishwoman, Ms Grainne O'Donnell, in Podocartus National Park, near the town of Zamora.
The two had arrived there earlier in the day and had rented a cabin in the park, which is a popular destination for tourists. Both women are in their mid-20s.
Ireland's honorary consul general to Ecuador, Mr Richard Lacy, said the two decided to go for a swim in the river running through the centre of the park. "It's a turbulent river but there's a side pool which is quite calm," he said.
He said Ms Redmond went into the water first and her friend suddenly noticed that she was in the middle of the river, having been apparently swept from the pool. Three park rangers responded to the women's cries for help and came running to the scene but failed to prevent Ms Redmond from being carried away by the strong currents, he said.
The missing woman's mother, Mrs Mai Redmond, said the two friends were laughing and having fun before the incident. "Suddenly Aideen wasn't there any more so we don't know what happened really; she disappeared," she said on RTE radio.
Mr Lacy said the police co-ordinated search, which began on Tuesday in fading light, had been stepped up. There had been numerous offers for help, including from the US Embassy and the Augustinian Fathers in Ecuador.
Ms Redmond's family run a well-known wine shop in Ranelagh. Ms O'Donnell's father is an inspector at the Garda Training College in Templemore, Co Tipperary. The two women, who were on a back-packing holiday through a number of countries, were due to return home from Venezuela in October.