- Why Rivers Are Particularly Dangerous for Bathers
The German Life-Saving Association (DLRG) has urgently warned against swimming in rivers. According to the lifeguards' findings, most people died in drowning accidents in flowing waters this year - the exact number will be announced by the DLRG on Thursday (11:00 AM) in an interim report on fatal drowning accidents. "Most people are not capable of swimming safely in rivers," said DLRG President Ute Vogt to the German Press Agency ahead of the report. They are not sufficiently practiced swimmers: "I strongly advise against using rivers as bathing waters."
In the entire previous year, at least 378 people drowned nationwide, significantly more than the year before - in 2022, there were still 355 fatal drowning accidents. By the cut-off date of July 25, 2023, the lifeguards had counted 192 drowning victims in German waters - that was 21 fewer than at the same time last year.
Many drowning victims in rivers
Last year, according to earlier figures, the usually unsupervised inland waters proved particularly dangerous: Although there were 138 fewer deaths in lakes than in 2022, more people died in rivers and canals: The DLRG counted 135 drowning victims in rivers last year - compared to 105 the year before. In canals, 27 people drowned, compared to 19 the year before.
And in recent days, drowning accidents in rivers have kept the rescue services busy: In Ulm, the helpers no longer expected to find a 17-year-old who had been missing in the Danube since Friday alive. "He is likely to have drowned in the Danube," a police spokesman said. There are no indications that the missing person reached the shore, the current is strong. The 17-year-old had tried to swim through the Danube with three other men. Only he did not reach the neighboring shore. Witnesses are said to have observed how the teenager went under.
Dangerous current
Two people were swept away by the current in the Rhine at Hohentengen in Baden-Württemberg on Sunday. The two young people and the woman, both non-swimmers according to the police, have been missing since then. Also on Sunday, several people were caught in the current in the Rhine in Düsseldorf - a woman was seriously injured, and her husband is missing. The man had jumped into the river to help his wife but got into difficulties himself.
A search was also underway in the Ruhr near Essen for a missing 42-year-old. The man presumably went swimming or to cool off near a swimming pool on Monday, a police spokesman said. An accident is initially suspected.
2023 saw the most drowning deaths in Bavaria
A 24-year-old died in a hospital after a drowning accident in the Eisbach in the English Garden in Munich. The man had fallen down a weir at the end of July after he could no longer hold onto a chain in the strong current, as the fire department reported at the time. Passers-by pulled the man out of the water lifelessly around ten minutes later. He was taken to a clinic in critical condition. The Eisbach is the scene of fatal drowning accidents again and again - a 26-year-old student drowned there about a month ago.
In total, the most people drowned in Bavaria last year, with 2023 seeing 62 water-related fatalities, down from 70 the previous year. In Bremen, the number of deaths fell from 5 to 2, while in Lower Saxony it decreased from 42 to 33. In Hamburg, however, the number nearly doubled, from 10 to 21. In Baden-Württemberg, 43 people drowned, 14 more than in 2022.
Despite the DLRG's warnings, the danger of drowning in rivers remains high. Last Sunday, two non-swimmers were swept away by the current in the Rhine at Hohentengen, leaving them missing.
The 17-year-old missing in Ulm since Friday is believed to have drowned in the Danube, as indicated by the strong current and lack of signs of reaching the shore.
