Little hope for drowning man in Ostend

The fire brigade was called by passers-by just before 7 p.m. on Sunday evening because two people were in distress in the Ostend-Bruges canal. The two had ended up in the water to fish for a bunch of keys, near the bridge at the Royal Work Ibis. They fell into the water themselves.

Passerby saves one drowning man

One of the two drowning people could be pulled out of the water by a passer-by, a former police inspector from Bredene. The passer-by jumped into the canal and was able to save the man, an Ostend resident. He was taken to hospital in a very critical condition.

Search yields nothing

The emergency services arrived at the scene with sonar and a diving team. But for the other drowning man, a 29-year-old from Ostend, their help probably came too late. The emergency services could not find his body and suspect that it drifted towards the sea. The search ended at 9 p.m. Sunday evening.