More than a week ago, a young couple got into trouble on a quarry pond in North Rhine-Westphalia - and went under. Two witnesses who rush to help can no longer discover them. After days of searching, the police use a sonar boat to find the bodies.
The search for a missing couple in a quarry pond near Porta Westfalica, which has been going on for days, ends with sad certainty: the bodies of a 26-year-old and a 27-year-old will be found and recovered on Sunday, the police said.
A sonar boat and a diving robot from a private company in Bavaria were also used in the search. With the help of the boat, the bodies could finally be located, reports the "Westfalen-Blatt". According to the report, the missing persons were found at a depth of about 16 meters. The quarry pond is said to be up to 30 meters deep in some places.
After the discovery, the dead were recovered with the help of divers from the fire department. The police erected two tents on the shore of the lake so that the two families could say goodbye to their relatives in a small circle. Two emergency chaplains were also present. The 26-year-old comes from Bad Oeynhausen, the 27-year-old from Löhne.
What had happened on the lake? According to the police, the two were out and about on the gravel pond on Sunday a week ago, each with an air mattress. For previously unknown reasons, they then apparently got into trouble and finally went under. The "Bild" newspaper quotes an acquaintance as saying: "She couldn't swim. He probably wanted to save her."
Two witnesses, aged 21 and 25, tried to swim to the scene of the accident, but could no longer see the casualties and finally gave up their rescue attempt. Another witness meanwhile made an emergency call. Police forces found personal belongings of the missing after the initially unsuccessful search on the water on the shore.
Signs on the shore prohibit entering the property on which the quarry pond near Porta Westfalica is located, according to the report in the "Bild" newspaper. He therefore belongs to a gravel mining company.
