Drownings in Lake Cauma occurred after regular swimming hours

There have been two deadly accidents whereas swimming inside three days at Lake Cauma in Flims in canton Graubünden. Mayor Christoph Schmidt says he’s shocked, however doesn’t need to hear any discuss of a ban on swimming outdoors opening hours.

The newest incident occurred on Sunday night. At round 7:00 pm, a 27-year-old German man was making an attempt to swim to a small island to rescue a buddy when he himself received into problem. Despite rescue efforts, the younger man died on the scene.

Just three days earlier, a 17-year-old vacationer from the United Kingdom additionally had issues swimming and died that very same night in hospital.

The public bathing space at Lake Cauma is open on daily basis throughout the summer time season from 8:30 am to five:00 pm, in keeping with the Flims-Laax vacationer board’s web site.

“We are deeply shocked by the two tragic accidents that occurred in such quick succession at this much-loved and popular swimming lake. Both incidents occurred in the evening, after normal opening hours, when there is no guaranteed supervision in the water,” Schmidt instructed Keystone-ATS information company.

+ A second younger man drowns in similar Swiss lake

The final tragic incident occurred over ten years in the past, in 2016. “Our thoughts are with the families of the victims, and we wish to express our deepest condolences to them for these tragic and painful events,” the mayor added.

Dangers typically underestimated

Schmidt doesn’t imagine that Lake Cauma is presently notably harmful for swimmers. Indeed, it doesn’t current any explicit dangers by way of temperature or currents. However, it might usually be noticed “that inexperienced swimmers repeatedly underestimate the dangers of open waters such as lakes”. In this regard, the mayor cites distances and temperature.

For Schmidt, “as with many other open bodies of water”, a ban on swimming outdoors opening hours shouldn’t be presently underneath dialogue, even following the deadly accidents. For a while now, nevertheless, data on the protection plan and bathing guidelines has been displayed inside the bathing space. The security and rescue plan for the lake and its implementation are refined every year in collaboration with the operator, “where appropriate, with the involvement of the relevant authorities”, the mayor added.

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Translated from Italian, reviewed by an English Department journalist.