Moment freak wave smashes tourist beach in Mykonos leaving swimmer with broken ribs and sending sunbathers fleeing
THIS is the moment a massive freak wave caused by a passing ship smashed the shore of a tourist beach – leaving two people injured.
Sunbeds, slides and parasols were all seen being washed away by the raging sea as horrified beachgoers scrambled to take cover in Agios Mykonos, Greece.
Shocking footage captured by a beachgoer shows the massive wave sweeping two tourists off their feet.
Two people and a boy who appeared to be much younger scrambled to get out of the sea as they watched the freak wave approach.
The wall of water then smacked a woman who was on dry land before knocking her down to the floor.
Onlookers were then seen rushing towards to woman in a bid to help her get out of the water.
Takis Papadakos, who filmed the dramatic incident on the Greek beach, said that the injured woman “was hospitalized with two broken ribs”.
The ship that caused the massive freak waves belongs to Fast Ferries Andros – a ferry service used for local transportation.
The captain of the ship was arrested for “violating regulations related to reckless operation near other boats and causing negligent injury”, Protothema reports.
It is understood the Mykonos Port Authority has now launched an investigation into the matter.
It comes after a huge “meteo” tsunami left tourists scrambling as it rocked up in the holiday hotspot of Menorca.
The freak weather surged onto the port of Ciutadella in Menorca, submerging rows of sun loungers under the water.
At least five large meteo-tsunamis with oscillations over three feet were witnessed, say Spain’s national weather agency Aemet.
Footage shows tourists running across the beach trying to find higher land as the waves start to crash into the shore.
The water quickly pushes up the sand dragging in giant inflatable slides and pieces of wood into the sea.
It came less than 24 hours after another meteo-tsunami crashed into the shores of Majorca.
The sea level rose sharply and flooded parts of Puerto Alcudia, on the northeast coast of the popular holiday island.
In 2018, a meteo-tsunami devastated several holiday resorts, with waves crashing into bars and terraces by the coast in the island’s Port Andratx.
A German dad-of-two died after being swept to sea in Majorca – just hours after the tsunami laid waste to the holiday island’s beaches.
Yacht owners were filmed desperately trying to stop their boats being washed away.
The strong current broke the ropes of a historic sailing boat used by the Majorca Island Council – which had to be rescued by sailors and brought back to port as it drifted out to sea.
One shocking clip showed desperate boat owners battling to keep their yachts from being washed away as the wave pounded a jetty in Port Andratx, Majorca.
What is a meteo-tsunami?
METEO-TSUNAMIS are a freak weather phenomenon that causes large, tsunami-like waves.
They are triggered by disturbances in air pressure caused by fast-moving weather events, like thunderstorms, and are generated when rapid changes in barometric pressure cause the displacement of a body of water.
Most tsunamis are geological, meaning they are triggered by vertical movement on the seabed, which can be caused by an earthquake or landslide.
The difference with a meteo-tsunami is that they are created by the weather.
A small, rapid change in atmospheric pressure – even by a few millibars – can change the sea surface elevation by a few centimetres.
This elevation can go unnoticed in deep water, but in shallower water near shorelines, it can cause the sea level to rise significantly, often by several feet.
They can reach heights of six feet and more, and have been observed in many places around the world, including Gulf of Mexico, Atlantic Coast and the Mediterranean.