Search called off for man missing in Portsmouth Harbour (From Daily Echo)

Search called off for man missing in Portsmouth Harbour

3:16pm Friday 27th July 2012 in Fareham

The search for a man missing after he jumped into the sea to rescue two children has been called off.

The 33-year-old entered the water to help the youngsters, a girl aged three and a 17-year-old boy, who had got into difficulty close to the entrance of Portsmouth Harbour yesterday afternoon, Hampshire Constabulary said.

Both the toddler, the teenager and another man who dived into the sea to help made it safely to dry land.

But it is believed the missing rescuer, who was last seen close to the harbour entrance, may have been dragged under the surface by strong currents.

A search operation involving lifeboats, a Coastguard helicopter, Ministry of Defence police boats and a Coastguard rescue team was launched shortly after the incident at 3.40pm.

The Coastguard teams temporarily called off their search at about 10pm last night due to bad light.

A Solent Coastguard spokesman said: ''A final coastline search was carried out at sunrise before the search was called off.''

A woman working at the Wellington pub, who did not wish to be named, said the incident had happened on the beach across the road.

She said she believed the man had swum out to sea to rescue the two youngsters who were in distress.