Nationwide bathing accidents: the heat weekend calls for numerous deaths – DLRG with a clear warning

Created: 2022-06-20Updated: 2022-06-20 05:07

By: Anna Lorenz

Numerous swimming accidents in Germany overshadow the heat weekend.

The German Life Saving Society (DLRG) explicitly warns of the dangers of summer leisure activities.

Munich – The heat wave that is currently affecting Germany has claimed a few lives over the weekend (June 18/19, 2022).

Numerous swimming accidents occurred nationwide, as reported by the

and

news agencies .

Heat in Germany: Swimming accidents in Berlin, Stuttgart, Hürth and Darmstadt are fatal

With the current temperatures, many people are drawn to rivers or bathing lakes to cool off and refresh themselves.

Unfortunately, there were several fatal accidents on Saturday, June 18th.

In Berlin, a 17-year-old who had been reported missing in the evening at Weißer See was discovered lifeless in the water by the notified rescue workers after a 20-minute search.

Immediate resuscitation measures were unsuccessful.

A 59-year-old could only be rescued dead from the Berlin airport lake by the fire brigade.

Divers managed to find the man floating in the water relatively quickly, but help came too late because the person concerned - apparently unnoticed by other bathers - had probably gone under several hours earlier.

The good weather attracts bathers to lakes and rivers.

However, there were a few accidents.

(Iconic image) © Political-Moments/Imago

In Hürth, North Rhine-Westphalia, an 18-year-old died in a lido on a bathing lake.

As the police and prosecutors announced on Sunday, the young man went swimming on Saturday afternoon.

The fire brigade and rescue divers only found him about an hour later and were able to revive him successfully;

However, according to the authorities, the 18-year-old later died in a hospital.

A 50-year-old man did not survive his jump into the Stuttgart Neckar on Saturday afternoon.

According to the police, he had consumed alcohol with an acquaintance near the Wilhelmsbrücke and then suddenly jumped into the river.

After a half-hour search, the man was rescued and died in hospital after unsuccessful resuscitation.

The water was also fatal to a 28-year-old from Darmstadt, who is said to have climbed into the Rhine near Biebesheim (Groß-Gerau district) on Friday and sank shortly afterwards.

The search for the missing person, which involved two fire brigade divers, a police helicopter and several boats, ended on Saturday evening near Mainz/Wiesbaden, where the 28-year-old's body was recovered.

Heat wave: Nationwide bathing accidents - missing person report in Mengerskirchen

In Mengerskirchen (Limburg-Weilburg district), there is still no trace of a 79-year-old pensioner who, accompanied by his son, got under water on Thursday, June 16, while swimming in a forest lake (Probbach district).

A witness called the police.

The lake was cordoned off and the search is ongoing, a police spokesman said. 

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Heat wave claims fatalities: DLRG urgently warns of dangers when bathing

As every year when the weather is good, the DLRG warns urgently of the dangers of bathing in lakes and rivers.

Swimmers would overestimate the currents, panic in an emergency and end up under water as a result.

"A larger proportion of drowning accidents happen in the older semesters, who are now one to two years out of practice," said Markus Rojahn from the water rescue service at Penzinger Baggersee in 2021 to the

.

Swimmers are out of practice due to the corona restrictions of recent years, they should “not immediately try the routes […]” that they mastered before the pandemic.

"The appeal is: take it slow [...] and, of course: watch out for big and small." The problem is intensified by the lack of training for swimming beginners.

The pandemic produced entire cohorts “that no longer learned to swim really well or could no longer deepen it”.

It should also be noted that the consumption of alcohol, disregarding no-bathing signs and ignoring warnings increase the risk of accidents while bathing.

The effects on the circulatory system, which the change from hot to cool water provokes in the body, should not be underestimated.