British man vanishes while attempting water rescue on Lake Como

Italian emergency teams are hunting for a British national who disappeared while trying to swim to the aid of two people struggling in Lake Como. The incident occurred on Monday afternoon near the San Siro municipality along the lake’s western shore.

According to reports from Italian media, the man, identified as Adam Goldsmith and described as being in his late 30s, had been on a boating excursion with a family he knows. When the father and son began to experience difficulty in the water, Goldsmith dove in to assist them.

The alarm was raised at approximately 13:30 local time (11:30 GMT) by the mother of the teenager, who was aboard a rented vessel about 600 meters from the shoreline with her other child. While the father and son were subsequently pulled to safety by another passing boat and treated for early signs of hypothermia, Goldsmith failed to resurface and has not been seen since.

Authorities have deployed a significant response to the scene, including helicopter units, boat teams, and divers. However, operations face challenges due to the lake’s extreme depth, which exceeds 200 meters in places. Local news outlet Qui Como reports that rescuers are preparing to launch two underwater robots to scan the lake bed where the water is too deep for human divers.

The UK Foreign Office confirmed it is providing assistance to the family of the missing British citizen and is maintaining contact with local Italian authorities.

Lake Como, situated roughly 30 miles north of Milan, is a major tourist destination, attracting over 78,000 foreign visitors in 2024. Although popular for swimming during the summer, water temperatures in the region are known to drop from September onward.