A Brazilian surfer has died on the Portuguese Atlantic coast near the town of Nazaré.
Marcio Freire, 47, has died after falling while surfing at Praia do Norte beach area, Portugal's National Maritime Authority said.
The crashed surfer wanted to ride a wave with the controversial tow-in surfing technique.
The sea area off the coast of Nazaré is considered one of the most challenging places for surfers in the world because of its giant waves.
resuscitation unsuccessful
Tow-in surfing allows surfers to access particularly high, otherwise unreachable waves by being towed into a breaking wave using a jet ski or helicopter.
According to the Portuguese Maritime Authority, rescue workers found the crashed surfer in cardiac and respiratory arrest and immediately began resuscitation measures on the beach.
However, these were in vain.
Sea conditions on Thursday were not particularly dangerous, according to the agency.
First fatal accident
The five-kilometre-deep and 170-kilometre-long "Nazaré Canyon", where the huge waves are created, is located directly in front of the Portuguese Atlantic coast.
US professional surfer Garrett McNamara introduced the waves of Nazaré to a larger audience in the early 2010s.
Since then, numerous surfers have traveled to Nazaré year after year, especially in winter.
Several accidents had already occurred at the site, but as of Thursday none had been fatal.
On October 29, 2020, the German surfer Sebastian Steudtner set the world record for the highest wave ever surfed on a 26.2 meter high wave at the site of the Nazaré accident.