British grandmother, 69, drowns off Spain's Menorca saving her granddaughter, 10, who was swept out to sea on holiday

Margaret, 69, jumped into the wind-whipped waters off Cavelleria beach after 30mph gusts pushed her granddaughter's inflatable into a rocky cove. Her husband and the girl's mother also leapt in, and beachgoers tore down a rope barrier to help drag the family ashore. The girl was pulled to safety but her grandmother drowned; it was her husband who recovered her lifeless body from the sea.

The grandfather was hospitalised with lacerations and bleeding injuries sustained when he was thrown against the rocks during the rescue attempt.

Lifeguards had been stood down on 15 October — more than two weeks before the tragedy — after the local service was cancelled for the season.

A doctor treated the ten-year-old for an anxiety attack; a forensic pathologist arrived within an hour and an autopsy has been scheduled.