A Danish man’s holiday in Bulgaria ended in tragedy on Sunday when he began to feel poorly in the sea off the coast of the country’s Golden Sands resort and was later declared dead by paramedics.

The Foreign Ministry confirmed the death to Ekstra Bladet, but would not reveal details of the Dane’s identity.

“A Danish citizen has died in Bulgaria. The relatives have been informed, but the Foreign Ministry has a duty of confidentiality in personal cases and can therefore not make any further comments,” the ministry’s citizen service told the paper.

Ekstra Bladet claims however to have contacted the man’s family and identified the deceased as a 45-year-old man resident in the town of Nørre Aaby near Middelfart on Funen.

The newspaper reports that the sea has been treacherous in the area in recent days and that there should have been a red flag flying at the time of the Danish man’s death.

The deceased was taken to Saint Anna Hospital in the nearby town of Varna and an autopsy is awaited to determine the exact cause of death.