10 People Died Due to Swimming During a Heat Wave in Germany

JAKARTA - A total of 13 people were killed in a swimming accident in Germany over the weekend amid a heat wave that led many people to go to lakes and rivers to cool off.

According to police, a 27-year-old man drowned in the Neckar River near Heidelberg on Saturday (27/6). Another victim, a 30-year-old man died in a lake for swimming near Neuhofen, south of Mannheim, while two men died in different waters in Berlin, reported the German News Agency (DPA).

A 6-year-old child died in the Herner Meer area on the Rhine-Herne Canal in North Rhine-Westphalia. Police also found the body of a 40-year-old man in the Hesseyakni area on Lake Waldsee Raunheim, southwest of Frankfurt.

Last Friday a 45-year-old man was pulled from the water by a visitor in Seepark Lünen near Dortmund, but his life was not saved and he later died in hospital, police said.

Police also said an 8-year-old boy was found dead after a two-hour search in a lake where he was swimming in Isernhagen near Hanover. According to initial reports, the child was swimming before drowning in the water.

The bodies of two elderly men were also found in Lake Constance on Friday (26/6) after they disappeared the day before when they jumped into the lake in front of their wives.

Germany has experienced several days of heat with temperatures reaching even above 40 degrees Celsius, with a slight drop in temperatures at night in a number of areas.

This prolonged heat wave is making it more difficult for vulnerable groups of people, while the habit of immediately going into cold water during extreme weather can trigger a heavy load on the circulatory system.