The number of spa deaths in Germany increased by almost 20 percent in 2018. At least 504 people drowned last year, said the German Lifesaving Society (DLRG) in Hamburg.
435 men and women were killed in unsecured bathing in rivers, streams, lakes and canals. The DLRG cites the long and warm summer last year as one of the reasons for the significantly higher number of bathing people.
60 percent of ten-year-olds can not swim safely
The inland waters are still leading statistics on deaths, according to DLRG. "They are rarely guarded by lifeguards," said DLRG President Achim Haag. "The risk of drowning is much higher here." A simple prohibition sign prohibit the least from going into the water.
Video: How to recognize the drowning - and save
DPA
According to DLRG President Haag, the current drowning figures are also linked to the fact that fewer and fewer people can swim. Swimming pools would be increasingly closed or converted into fun pools, in which swimming education was out of the question. Longer waits for swimming lessons are the result.
"We have to maintain baths, build bathrooms and not rationalize - closures are at the expense of water security of the population and affordable social offers," warned Hague. According to DLRG, the possible consequences are already foreseeable: about 60 percent of ten-year-olds are not sure swimmers.
As in previous years, most cases of drowning occurred in Bavaria (89), followed by North Rhine-Westphalia (63), Baden-Württemberg (62) and Lower Saxony (61).