Boy, 15, who died after beach rescue operation at Port Talbot is named

A 15-year-old boy has died after getting into difficulty in the sea at Port Talbot. A rescue operation was sparked after the teenager got into trouble at the popular beach on Monday (June 19) evening.

South Wales Police have named the victim as 15-year-old David Ejimofor from Aberavon. St Joseph’s Catholic School in Port Talbot, where David attended school, released a statement saying it was “deeply saddened” by the “tragic and unexpected passing away” of one of its Year 11 pupils.

The school’s head teacher Eugene Scourfield said on its Facebook page that support has been put in place for pupils and staff. His statement said: "Our chapel is open to pupils, parents and friends of our school community. Please keep the family in your prayers,"

The coastguard was called to Aberavon beach in Neath Port Talbot just after 6pm on Monday, with a helicopter and the Port Talbot RNLI lifeboat joining the rescue operation. South Wales Police also attended the beach in search of the teenager.

The boy was found and taken to the Princess of Wales Hospital in Bridgend, where the police force shared that he had sadly died. Chief Inspector Richard Haines, said: "Shortly before 7.10pm, officers were called to a report of a boy in the sea at Aberavon Beach, #PortTalbot.

"We attended with a number of other emergency services. Despite the best efforts of members of the public and emergency services he sadly passed away."

The local RNLI have released a statement saying that a volunteer lifeboat crew from Port Talbot launched on Monday evening. The charity said: "The crew were on scene alongside other emergency services. Port Talbot RNLI would like to express their deepest sympathy to the friends and family of those involved,"

A spokesperson for the ambulance service told the BBC: “"We were called on Monday, 19 June, to reports of a medical emergency at Mariners Quay, Port Talbot. We sent one emergency ambulance, two rapid response vehicles, a duty operations manager, and our crews were support by Wales Air Ambulance."