Search for British man who fell from cruise ship off Tenerife coast

A British man who fell overboard from a cruise ship off the coast of Tenerife is under surveillance. On Thursday, the Spanish coastguard said it had been coordinating search and rescue efforts for the 76-year-old since 09:48 local time (09:48 GMT) on Thursday. When the incident occurred on the Marella Explorer 2, operated by TUI, it was just north-west of the Spanish island. The man was

seen entering the sea while the ship was on route to La Gomera,

according to TUI's Marella Cruises, who said it was helping his family and working with local authorities.

The ship participated in the search before docking in Santa Cruz de Tenerife in the early hours of Friday, according to a coastguard. Two helicopters, two helicopters and a specialist search and rescue aircraft have been sent to the area. Lesley-Anne Kelly, a passenger on the ship, recalled the time an alarm sounded while having breakfast with her mother on Thursday morning. The alarm was accomPAnied by an alert of man overboard, she told a PA news agency. The captain told passengers that the ship had to remain in place until the coastguard allowed it to leave, but later reported that the search had been postponed due to darkness. Last night, it was pretty sombre, she said, particularly after learning that they were standing down the hunt. She explained that witnesses were being interviewed. Mrs Kelly said she believed people had clearly seen it happen, and that "it was breakfast time. Everybody was up and about. It was a beautiful day, so I can imagine if someone had come in at that time of the day that they would have seen many people. According to local media reports, the ship was on its way back to the Canary Islands from Madeira, Portugal's island, when the incident occurred. It is estimated that it left Tenerife on November 21 for a seven-day tour around the Canaries and other nearby islands. The Foreign Office has been contacted by the BBC for comment.

According to TUI's website, the Malta-registered Marella Explorer 2 can carry up to 1814 passengers on its 14 decks and 907 cabins.