Vitebsk Ministry of Emergency Situations warns: dangerous element – water

The statistics of water emergencies are alarming. In four days, 8 people, including 1 child, drowned in the waters of the Vitebsk region, and since the beginning of the current year, 39 people have drowned, including 5 children. The main cause of death is swimming while intoxicated.

For example, on June 24 alone, three people drowned in one day. At half past midnight, the Vitebsk rescue service received a report that a person had drowned in a pit pond in Vitebsk, in the area of 6th Zadorozhnaya Street. Rescuers who arrived at the scene found a man, born in 1976, at a depth of three meters, a short distance from the shore. He was relaxing on the bank of the pond with his acquaintance, then dived into the water and never resurfaced. At eleven in the morning, the Lepel District Department of Emergency Situations received a report by phone "101" that a person had drowned in the Ulla River near a grocery store on Pushkinskaya Street in the town of Lepel. During the search, the body of a young girl without signs of life was found in the water, 60 meters from the pier. It was later found that the deceased, born in 1995, was drinking alcohol with her mother at the reservoir, decided to swim, and then disappeared from view. On the same day, at one in the afternoon, the body of a young man, born in 2000, was recovered from the Gorodno Lake near the village of Sosnovka by employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations in the Vitebsk region. He was found at a depth of 3 meters, 25 meters from the shore. The circumstances of his death are being established.

“A drunk person in the water is half drowned,” says a wise folk proverb. And this is indeed true: an intoxicated person is unable to adequately assess the situation, loses self-control, and may commit actions they would never have committed while sober.

To ensure that your recreation is not overshadowed, you should remember and follow simple rules of safe behavior.

Swimming should only be done in specially equipped places – river and lake beaches.

During recreation by the water, it is strictly forbidden:

– to swim beyond buoys, barriers, and warning signs;

– to jump into the water from dams, piers, boats, or rafts;

– swimming and diving in places with unknown bottoms;

– climbing on buoys and other technical structures;

– giving false distress signals;

– boating and using catamarans without life-saving equipment;

– swimming while intoxicated.

If you experience a cramp while swimming, you should immediately get out of the water. If this is not possible, you need to change your swimming style – swim on your back and call for help if possible.