A child had disappeared at the end of the afternoon on Wednesday. “He had made new friends and had entered the sea,” says a police spokesperson. Not much later an adult was missing. He too had entered the sea and lost sight of bystanders. On Thursday, another child was without a trace.
At the emergency services they no longer look up. “This happens regularly during this period. Three times in two days is not exceptional,” explains Ernst Brokmeier van de Zandvoortse Rescue Brigade.
In the event of a loss at sea, he needs around twenty extra volunteers. “We have had a day that we had to go on the water eight times in a row,” says Jan Willem van den Bout of the KNRM in Zandvoort. He needs fifteen volunteers by missing.
Influence of changeable weather
The weather plays an important role in missing this week, they explain. Then there is sun again, then again rain and wind. It changes quickly. That influences the waves and the flow. “People come to the beach at the first rays of sunshine and still want to go into the water,” explains Brokmeier.
“They go in at one point and come out a hundred meters away due to the changing current. Then someone soon gets out of sight and a report of a loss is made.”
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