THE BODY OF an Irish woman has been found in the sea off the Majorcan holiday resort of Santa Ponsa.

A group of Russian holidaymakers raised the alarm after making the discovery this morning around 9am when they went for a swim to investigate an object floating in the water which they initially mistook for a diver.

Local reports described the woman as an 83-year-old Irish national and said she was fully clothed when she was found and had been identified from documents in a handbag still strapped to her.

She was about 300 metres from the coast when she was found. Her body was recovered using a Zodiac inflatable after local police, Civil Guard officers and paramedics raced to the scene.

Investigators believe she may have fallen from a boat. She is believed to have been dead for several hours when she was discovered.

A post-mortem was expected to take place late this afternoon to try to establish how she died.

It is not known at this stage if she had been reported missing.

The Department of Foreign Affairs said it was aware of reports but had not been contacted in relation to the woman’s death.

- Additional reporting Aoife Barry