After a tragic canoe accident involving a German family in the Netherlands, a man was found dead, presumably his father. Only one daughter of the family of four has been rescued so far. The police said on Friday that the dead man had been recovered from the Veluwemeer late Thursday evening. The search for the now missing five-year-old daughter continued. The emergency services assume that she also did not survive. The police in Biddinghuizen, about 75 kilometers north-east of Amsterdam, said that excavators would now also be used.
Update, July 23, 9:30 a.m.:
As the police from Biddinghuizen announced on Friday, the five-year-old girl was found. Unfortunately, any help came too late. According to a police spokesman, the only survivor is doing well physically, but the mental effects are "enormous". Contact was made with relatives. Now we are investigating how this could have happened.
The mother had been rescued lifeless from the water the day before. Attempts to resuscitate her were unsuccessful. None of the family wore life jackets.
The police could not initially say anything about the causes. The family was out and about in a canoe on the Veluwemeer near the IJsselmeer, a region very popular with holidaymakers. The police do not rule out that a faster boat swayed the light canoe and then capsized it. The seven-year-old daughter was able to cling to a buoy and was quickly rescued. She was admitted to a hospital. The mother was rescued a little later. The canoe was then found by a small island.
The police did not provide any information about the identity of the victims or the origin of the family.
