Brit tourist, 55, drowns in Mauritius during his first swim in the sea

• The man went to the Flic en  Flac lagoon on the west side of the island on Sunday

A British tourist has drowned in Mauritius during his first swim in the sea.

The Briton, aged 55, landed in Mauritius on Sunday and was staying in the Henessy Park Hotel in Ebène, on the west side of the paradise island, according to Le Express.

He went to the nearby Flic en Flac lagoon for his first swim and got into difficulty in the water, local media reports.

The man was reportedly pulled out of the water by a French national on a boat, but efforts to revive him failed and he was taken to a local hospital, where he was declared dead.

The sea reportedly was rough and there were heavy swells when the man drowned.

The Briton, aged 55, landed in Mauritius on Saturday and was staying in a hotel in Ebène, on the west side of the paradise island. He went to the nearby Flic en Flac beach (pictured) for his first swim on Sunday and got into difficulty in the water

The British man was due to leave Mauritius on Friday.

He is among three people who drowned in the strong swell, with three others still missing. Rescue efforts by the coast guard have been undermined by rough winds and waves of up to four metres.

MailOnline has contacted the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office for comment.

This comes after a heroic British father tragically went missing after disappearing beneath waves while trying to save his 15-year-old son who survived the ordeal on the paradise island of Mauritius.

The 49-year-old man had attempted to rescue his teenage son, who was swept out to sea by large waves in the Pomponette lagoon on the south coast of the island, according to local media reports.

But during the rescue the British national got into difficulty himself and by the time lifeguards reached the 15-year-old boy shortly after 10.15am on March 23, his father had disappeared beneath the waves.

While his son was rescued successfully, the search for the man lasted into the night and continued on March 24. He has not yet been located and is feared to have died.

The man, his partner and his son had arrived on Mauritius on Friday, March 22, and were due to leave about a week later, just before Easter Sunday, on March 30.

Read more