The scorching summer temperatures are driving many people into lakes and rivers, but the dangers are often underestimated. Just this weekend, three people died and three more are missing. In Hesse, police are searching for three men who were swimming in the Rhine near the municipality of Biblis and did not return.
A 50-year-old man went swimming on Saturday afternoon and did not return by evening. During the search, officers were alerted by passersby that two non-swimmers, aged 23 and 27, had gone under in the Rhine. “We have to assume the worst,” a police spokeswoman told the German Press Agency on Sunday morning. No further search operations were planned for the time being.
The current is underestimated, a police spokeswoman said in the morning. Cities such as Düsseldorf, Cologne, Neuss, and Duisburg have now banned swimming in the Rhine after year after year people were swept away by the current and died. Every year, around 400 people drown in Germany, mainly in ponds, lakes, streams, and rivers.
In Baden-Württemberg, a 23-year-old drowned on Saturday in a swimming lake in Rheinstetten near Karlsruhe. Emergency services from the fire department, DLRG, police, and rescue services recovered the man dead from the water. In Gelsenkirchen, a 16-year-old died after jumping into the Rhine-Herne Canal and not resurfacing. In Dörfles-Esbach in the district of Coburg, a 24-year-old was found dead in a lake after swimming.
Source: www.spiegel.de
