A moment of heckling between teenagers that ends in drama. Of those who devastate a family and the relatives of the victim. Monday evening, around 6.30 p.m., a 17-year-old teenager drowned in the Marne after accidentally falling there. His body, which had drifted slightly, was found an hour later by firefighters.
Despite a long cardiac massage, the young victim died on the spot. This Tuesday, an investigation for manslaughter was opened by the Meaux prosecutor's office. An autopsy is scheduled for the week and the boy's friends are heard in free hearing at the Lagny police station, without being placed in police custody.
An already heavy toll for this summer
Unlike other tragic drownings that have occurred in recent weeks, from the Chessy footbridge on July 11 or on the leisure island of Vaires-Torcy, in an area prohibited for swimming, on July 9, this inhabitant of Lagny-sur -Marne did not voluntarily dive into the water.
Her friend almost drowns too
According to the first elements of the investigation, entrusted to the Lagny police station, the victim who died Monday evening was heckling with three friends, two girls aged 16 and 17 and a boy aged 16, on the quai de la Gourdine, in the immediate vicinity of water and next to the pontoon of the Société nautique de Lagny, the local rowing club which was closed at the time of the incident.
Pushed a little too hard, the teenager lost his balance and fell into the water. He couldn't swim. Immediately, the second boy and a teenage girl threw themselves into the Marne to help him but unfortunately the girl in turn found herself in difficulty. Two witnesses to the scene, outside the first group, then jumped into the water to rescue the teenager and bring her back to the bank.
In serious condition but with a life-threatening prognosis, she was taken to the Grand Hospital in the East of the Ile-de-France, Marne-la-Vallée site in Jossigny. She was still there this Tuesday in the pediatric service. The second teenager who had tried to rescue his friend was able to return to the bank alone. Without being able to save his friend either.
"The Marne is beautiful but it's dangerous"
This Tuesday afternoon, the town hall of Lagny had four new signs put up to remind people that swimming in the Marne is prohibited, and will put five more on Wednesday, bringing to twenty the number of preventive postings on the banks.
“The Marne is beautiful but it is dangerous. We are not at the beach or at the pool. It is living water with currents, counter-currents and mud, reacts the town hall of Lagny. All day long, municipal and national police go by to say not to go in the water. It's dramatic, it's still a child, more broken lives. "
"Even if the rowing club does not let it happen and the police come by, we see people at the water's edge or inside all summer," indicates, fatalist, a resident. "I fished here from 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. and there was no one there, let go another. Then we heard the sirens, saw the young girl come out of the water. It's shocking. "
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Getting out of her boat, a rowing coach admits to having "never seen so many swimming in the Marne. Since the deconfinement, it's madness. It's hot, people haven't necessarily gone on vacation, and some jump into the water even though they can't swim. When we see them, we try to do prevention to avoid that. It's dramatic. "
Monday afternoon, shortly before this tragedy, another 18-year-old man also disappeared in the Marne in Gournay-sur-Marne (Seine-Saint-Denis). The results are therefore already very heavy this summer, despite the many prevention messages and swimming bans.