Damp/Rostock (dpa/mv) - In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, six people drowned from January to July. According to the German Life Saving Society (DLRG), that was significantly fewer than in the same period last year, when 21 drowned people were registered in the federal state. As the DLRG further announced on Thursday in an interim balance of the year in the Schleswig-Holstein Baltic Sea resort of Damp, three people drowned in lakes, two in rivers and one in the sea in the north-east.
According to DLRG figures, the number of people who drowned in Germany rose by 15 to at least 199 from January to July compared to the previous year. DLRG President Ute Vogt named the good weather in May, which many people used to go swimming, as one reason for the increase. "There were more accidents in the still cool waters." In May, 30 women, men and children drowned. In May 2021 there were only eleven.
According to the DLRG, the majority of accidents occur inland in mostly unguarded waters. By July, on the other hand, there were only four bathing deaths on the North and Baltic Seas. According to the DLRG, a total of 299 people died in swimming accidents in Germany in 2021. That was the lowest level in more than 20 years.
