Wife of pensioner killed in sunbed brawl insists beach was empty before 'attacker demanded their loungers and punched her husband in the heart'

The wife of a pensioner who died because of a brawl about sun loungers on a Greek beach has spoken out in the wake of the fatal incident.The 82-year-old died from cardiac arrest on Sunday, after a fight broke out when he allegedly refused to give up his six sun loungers to a man and his female companion on a beach in Vouliagmeni, a seaside town near Athens.'My husband died because of a stupid thing on an empty beach,' the woman said, according to a report in Greek newspaper ProtoThema.'Suddenly, a couple from where the beach was empty wanted to take our sunbeds. 'When we said that it was full of empty sunbeds and chairs, the gentleman, who is being held, attacked my husband, punched him in the nose and in the heart. 'He fell to the ground.'The 76-year-old man has been arrested for causing grievous bodily harm, and will appear before the prosecutor on Monday.His 21-year-old companion, who is understood to be disabled, was arrested for complicity in causing fatal bodily harm, as well as making threats and insults, the newspaper claimed. File photo shows sunbeds on the beach where the fight took place The incident occurred shortly after 9am, after the younger man went swimming with his companion and they returned to the beach to find sunbeds.After purchasing their tickets, they picked out two loungers. The 82-year-old, who was with his wife, apparently told them that his group was sitting at that particular spot – and that six sunbeds were taken.A fight broke out which left the pensioner in cardiac arrest.A doctor and two lifeguards took him to the beach clinic, where a defibrillator was used on him and he received CPR four times before an ambulance arrived, reports said. He was taken to Asklepieion Hospital in Voula, where he died around an hour later.'Blood' started flowing as the elderly people fought, according to eyewitnesses.One source said that the scene was so chaotic, the screaming could be heard from the other end of the beach. It is unclear who started the physical altercation, with witnesses disputing the chain of events. Speaking to ProtoThema, an acquaintance of the 76-year-old said: 'My friend went to get the sunbeds, I was getting a ticket. 'He got into an argument with the 82-year-old who said to him: "Do you know who I am? I'm from the navy." My friend (the 76-year-old) has injuries, as does the 21-year-old girl who was accompanying him.'Another eyewitness said: 'We heard voices, we ran to see what was happening and we saw a fight, the workers ran first. 'There was chaos, I have never heard such screams before.'The 76-year-old, who spoke with Greece's MEGA TV, said: 'I went to get some sunbeds with the young woman I was with, and he said to her: "Put them down, you f***ing b***h."'The 82-year-old then punched her multiple times, he claimed, as the pair exchanged insults.'Leave the sunbed here!' the pensioner apparently shouted. 'I’m not leaving it,' the young woman allegedly replied.'He turned around and hit me, too. I said to him: "You’re hitting women, you lowlife." He was the one who hit me,' the 76-year-old claimed.Amid the argument, the 21-year-old woman is believed to have been taken to the beach clinic by her older companion, who then returned to the scene to continue the brawl.Witnesses told Ta Nea daily newspaper that she had a bloodied and swollen face.Authorities are investigating what led to the physical altercation and the man's death. File photo shows Vouliagmeni, a town 16 miles south of Athens where the fight occurredSunbed wars have escalated across Europe in recent years as tourists vie for the best spots.Last year it was reported British tourists had taken matters to new heights as pictures showed some sleeping on loungers overnight to reserve the best poolside positions.In May a German holidaymaker successfully sued his tour operator and received a £770 payout after he claimed his children were left lying on poolside concrete on a luxury Greek island.In July, more than 100 tourists were filmed waiting in line for over an hour to secure poolside sunbeds at a hotel in Tenerife.Nick Hughes, 49, from North Wales, was enjoying breakfast at the Paradise Park Hotel in Los Cristianos when he noticed guests beginning to gather behind a barrier near the pool at 7.45am.The holidaymaker, who had travelled to the Canary Islands with his wife Joanne, 38, and their two sons, Finley, 10, and Ellis, seven, said the queue continued to grow over the next hour.When staff removed the barrier at 9am on July 29, guests made their way towards the loungers, with some throwing towels onto empty sunbeds to claim their spots.Nick, a contract catering operations manager, said: 'I would estimate there were more than 100 people involved altogether.'The crowd seemed to approach from both directions and there were people of all ages.'It was much larger than I would ever have expected. Some people appeared to have been waiting for around an hour and fifteen minutes.'He noted that he observed 'individuals already in position' at 7.45am, where they remained until the barrier was removed.Nick continued: 'That's a significant amount of holiday time to spend queuing for a sunbed.'Before the barrier was opened, everyone seemed very relaxed and friendly. People were chatting, laughing and generally behaving as you would expect on holiday.'The moment the barrier came down, however, everything changed. What had been a calm queue suddenly became a sprint, with people rushing in all directions to secure their preferred spot.'The contrast between the calm atmosphere beforehand and the chaos afterwards was what made it so remarkable. I started filming because I genuinely thought it was funny.'While he had heard plenty of stories from friends and family about the infamous sunbed dash at holiday resorts, Nick revealed he had never actually seen one for himself.The father of two said: 'This was the first hotel I've stayed in where I've actually seen such a large-scale rush happen in person. It was one of those things you almost don't believe until you see it with your own eyes.'As I watched more people gathering, I realised this was likely to be one of those moments that people wouldn't believe unless they saw it themselves.'I never expected the footage to attract so much attention afterwards.'Nick noted how 'surreal' it was to watch more and more people gather, adding that he couldn't help wondering how much of their holiday morning people were giving up just to grab a particular sunbed.