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Berlin (dpa / sa) - Four people drowned in Saxony-Anhalt last year.
According to the German Life Saving Society (DLRG) on Tuesday, this is the lowest number of deaths in at least two decades.
However, the open waters in the wild remain particularly dangerous, as reported by the DLRG in Berlin.
«Rivers and lakes are still the greatest sources of danger.
Only a comparatively few bodies of water are guarded by lifeguards.
The risk of drowning there is therefore many times higher than on coasts or in swimming pools, ”said Achim Haag, President of the DLRG.
All fatal swimming accidents in Saxony-Anhalt occurred in lakes, ponds and rivers, and all fatalities were men.
As in previous years, the DLRG drew attention to what it saw as a precarious situation in swimming training.
A quarter of all primary schools nationwide cannot offer swimming lessons, and swimming courses at associations are sometimes fully booked for years.
In addition, the closings due to the corona pandemic have further exacerbated the situation.
She urges renovating ailing public pools and offering more swimming lessons in schools.
Nationwide, there were 378 deaths, around nine percent fewer fatal swimming accidents than in the previous year.
Above all in the most populous federal states of Bavaria and North Rhine-Westphalia, the death rate fell markedly.
As usual, more than half of the swimming accidents occurred in the summer months.
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© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210309-99-752410 / 3
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