A lifeguard on Sylt dies trying to save a woman from drowning. The woman is rescued, but later also dies in the hospital. Much of the accident is still unclear.
Wenningstedt / Sylt – In a tragic bathing accident off Wenningstedt on Sylt, first a rescuer and then the unfortunate holidaymaker died.
As the police announced, a 63-year-old woman from Hesse threatened to drown in the North Sea on Thursday afternoon. Two lifeguards and four bathers tried to help her. “One of the lifeguards, a 47-year-old North Frisian, could not get back to the beach and could only be recovered dead from the water,” said the police in Flensburg.
The woman could first be brought to the beach. She came to a clinic in a rescue helicopter. According to the charges, she died there several hours later.
The course of the accident has not yet been fully clarified, said a police spokeswoman on request. The spokeswoman initially did not want to confirm a report in the “Hamburger Abendblatt” on Friday, according to which the 63-year-old had disregarded a bathing ban and was thus in need. The report says that the woman is said to have gone into the water, although a red flag on the beach warned of high waves and strong undercurrents.
“We are currently questioning witnesses to check this,” said the police spokeswoman. According to the spokeswoman, it is also still unclear what the lifeguard died of. “We are currently assuming a swimming accident,” she said. “But it cannot be ruled out that a health problem in the 47-year-old led to his death.” Dpa
