A 38-year-old American tourist died yesterday after he fell ill at Horseshoe Bay.

Richard Bean, a beach attendant, said the man was pulled from the water at the popular tourist beach after he suffered breathing problems.

Lifeguards performed CPR on the man before he was rushed to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, but he was later pronounced dead by doctors.

The incident happened at about 2.30pm when the Southampton beach was packed with about 1,000 tourists.

Nathan Trott, lifeguard superintendent, said that five lifeguards were on duty.

Mr Bean was also on duty at the time of the incident. He said he saw a group of people huddled around the man as he lay on the beach after being pulled from the water.

Mr Bean said that a woman was “devastated and in tears” beside the man as lifeguards battled to save him.

Dave Arthurs and Clare O’Connor, from Toronto, said they were eating lunch at the beach bar when the ambulance arrived. The couple added there was “a lot of commotion” as the man was transported from the beach on an all-terrain vehicle to a waiting ambulance.

Police said yesterday that the man would not be named until next of kin were informed.