A British woman who died after being swept away into a Majorcan canyon during brutal flooding earlier this week has been named as Sarah Jane Thompson, 26.
Police and firefighters will today resume their search for Sarah’s missing boyfriend Alexander Johnson, 32, who is feared to have been caught by floodwaters as he tried to save his partner.
The couple were caught in a shocking flood amid torrential rain during an excursion in the Tramuntana mountain range in Sa Calobra on the Spanish island Tuesday afternoon.
A pair of trousers believed to belong to Alexander was found by search teams yesterday after divers joined the hunt for the missing man in the flooded canyon called the Torrent de Pareis.
Juan Carlos Rodriguez, head of the Civil Guard’s specialist mountain rescue, remains confident they will find the missing man’s body after his team recovered the body of Miss Thompson on Wednesday when it was spotted by a police helicopter.
Before the trousers were discovered, a Civil Guard spokesman said yesterday: ‘The search operation was resumed first thing with specialist Civil Guard divers joining the operation.
‘Air and land resources were employed by the Civil Guard. Several teams of firefighters were also mobilised.’
The Civil Guard yesterday released footage showing officers drudging through the water – as well as flying drones -in a bid to find the missing Brit.
Relatives of the pair, who were holidaying in Majorca, are currently being assisted by psychologists.
According to other hikers who were with the Brits and later rescued by the Civil Guard, the young woman was swept away by a strong surge of water and the man was carried away shortly after whilst trying to save her.
An official said: ‘The British man and woman were a couple. They were here on holiday and staying locally on the island. They also have family here with them and we are helping as best we can.’
Authorities had set up a special operation on Tuesday in anticipation of hikers trying to access the stream, despite several weather warnings being distributed across the island.
The mountain rescue team evacuated ten people later that day, including some related to the tragic couple, who were trapped and without warm and protective clothing.
The group, who ventured into the Torrent de Pareis – a river running through the Tramuntana area of northwest Majorca, reportedly showed signs of hypothermia, due to the low temperatures which continued to plummet as they became increasingly drenched by the downpour.
The UNESCO World Heritage Site, regarded as one of the most scenic and well-known day walks in Majorca, follows a deep, miles-long canyon starting from the Lluc area, opening at the bay of Sa Calobra.
Hikers wishing to start the walk start at a place called Escorca, on the Ma-10 road that connects Pollensa with Soller.
Visitors are warned the canyon can be flooded at times and urged to take care.
Long sections of the bottom half are impassable on foot during severe flooding and people have drowned trying to swim sections of the canyon.
The cliffs defining the gorge are extremely tall and steep with no easy exits anywhere along the way.
The group caught in Tuesday’s flooding was escorted to safety via helicopter, with one being admitted to a medical facility in Palma and two taken to the Son Amer shelter in Escorca, the Majorca Daily Bulletin reports.
The two, who were hurried to Son Amer, are said to be ‘devastated’ by the incident, as they desperately await news regarding their loved ones.
Three managed to reach the safety of a mountain hut just after midnight on Wednesday morning, with one of them reportedly being ‘slightly hurt’.
The search for the missing man was paused for over two hours on Wednesday while emergency services waited for another storm, which barrelled through the area bringing torrential rain and high winds, to clear.
It was later resumed, but only on land, as authorities faced difficulties using the helicopter.
Police have been trying to establish the man’s whereabouts by triangulating his mobile phone.
Officials at the scene of the search said the group was ‘not equipped’ correctly but did not detail how the group was unprepared.
However, one official previously said: ‘We are tired of rescuing tourists from the area who go out in just flip flops.’
He added: ‘This is not a stroll in the park. It’s a very difficult and technical hike and you need the proper equipment and clothing.
‘Some of the group we rescued were soaked to the skin and suffering from hypothermia following the bad weather.
‘If you are going to do this hike you need to be prepared and most importantly you need to check the weather before going out.’
Another told : ‘There was a larger group of people who set off on the hike and the two people later joined them.
‘They arrived by scooter to meet up with their friends and the brother of the missing man has been here at the scene but has now left.
‘We found the woman this morning after the helicopter spotted her backpack from the air and we were able to recover her body but the man is still missing.
‘The woman was found not far from the trail but the search for the man is proving difficult because of the weather conditions.’
Bad weather has hit Majorca for much of this week, with one shocking clip showing the terrifying moment the flood surged through a resort.
Rescue teams said the woman’s body had been found close to the start of the hiking trail but there were fears the man could have been washed out to sea.
A firefighter told : ‘That is a possibility, but we hope that maybe they are alive somewhere of that alive if they have died the body is trapped by a rock or some other debris.’
Balearic airports saw widespread delays on Wednesday, both in departures and arrivals in Palma, Ibiza, and Menorca, with rainfall of between 50 and 90 litres per square mile and wind gusts of between 90 and 120km per hour.
It was not clear whether the British man and woman were trying to walk the famous trek through the Torrent de Pareis in the Tramuntana mountain range or were simply strolling near the river bed.
The torrent is a riverbed that can be hiked during the dry months but is often affected by flash floods as it collects a large amount of rainwater that falls on the mountain and funnels it down this narrow valley.
The heavy rains that hit Mallorca on Tuesday left between 70 and 100 litres of water per square metre in the Serra de Tramuntana area, according to Ultima Hora.
Local weather chiefs are predicting a worsening of the weather in Majorca, saying the worst effects of the storms that first hit the island yesterday will be felt between 2pm and 3pm local time with heavy rain and winds of up to 75mph.
In Escorsa, where the mountain range is located, the Torrent de Es Raco overflowed, causing emergency teams to rescue a hundred people who had been trapped.
has contacted the FCDO for comment.