A 15-year-old teenager drowned on Saturday on an ocean beach in Lège-Cap-Ferret (Gironde), bringing to three victims in 24 hours the balance sheet of an Aquitaine coast known for its dangerousness, we learned Saturday from the emergency services.
On a Saturday marked by extreme heat, swimmers gave the alert around 5 p.m., on a beach in Lège-Cap-Ferret, after taking out of the water a 15-year-old boy who found himself in difficulty in water, in unspecified circumstances, but outside the supervised swimming area.
Witnesses tried first aid, soon relayed by rescuers from the nearest station and emergency aid, but the young man could not be revived, it was said to the emergency services.
Friday afternoon, in Charente Maritime, It is an 11-year-old girl, who has been reported missing, off the beach of Meschers-sur-Gironde, on the northern slope of the Gironde estuary, according to the Atlantic maritime prefecture.
The girl was part of a summer camp group that found themselves struggling in the water due to the strong current. Important nautical and air resources (jet-ski, speedboats, helicopters) were engaged and three young people were rescued, including a young girl who was hospitalized for the onset of drowning, but without a life threatening prognosis.
The search for the disappeared, interrupted Friday evening, resumed Saturday.
Caught in a baïne
In the Country Friday night, a 22-year-old girl drowned. She was part of a family of five who bathed in a baïne, in an isolated area far from the first aid station, Friday evening around 9 p.m. on the beach of Labenne.
Endangered by a current of baïne, most of them managed to regain the shore on their own, but they sounded the alarm when they understood that a young girl was missing.
After more than three hours of research, with two helicopters, nautical means of firefighters, rescuers at sea, the body of the victim was found on the beach ofOndres, a few kilometers further south.
Rescue and Maritime Prefecture of the Atlantic insisted on Saturday on the dangerousness of the currents on the Aquitaine coast, and in particular of the baïnes, these kinds of “pools” of sea water that appear harmless at low tide, but whose currents are said to be harmless. “Tearing” can quickly lead offshore. They take away several dozen bathers every summer.
Some 700 accidental drownings, including 168 fatal, occurred in France between June and early August, according to Public Health France, a figure down (-22%) compared to the previous survey in 2018, and which can be explained by a weather not conducive to swimming this summer.
But the strong heat forecast for the second part of August could increase the risk of drowning, warned the authors of the investigation.
– .
