Article: Our brush with death in holiday rip-tide beach hell

Airline worker Dean Plumb wept yesterday as he told of his dramatic escape from the perilous currents which claimed the lives of three of his friends after hitting them "like an Exocet" missile.

Father of two Mr Plumb, 40, from Swindon, was dragged beneath the swirling sea on the Algarve in Portugal after dashing into the water to save his distressed son Sam from a powerful rip-tide.

He managed to haul the terrified 12-year-old to safety, but was then washed out to sea himself before being rescued more than half- an-hour later.

Covered in scratches and bruises, Mr Plumb, a BA crew manager, trembled with emotion as he recalled from his hospital bed in Portimao his constant fight with the ...