A Belgian woman died on Friday near Lake Nahuel Huapi in southern Argentina. This is reported by the state press agency Telam based on information from local authorities.
On Friday afternoon, the 30-year-old woman was “playing with a dog on the shore of the lake, throwing a ball into the water for him to look for it. At one point, however, the ball drifted away and she jumped into the lake to retrieve it,” said a local source quoted by Télam.
Once in the water, the woman was unable to swim back to the beach, after which she began to call for help. The woman’s partner and others present then jumped into the lake to save her, according to eyewitnesses.
After a few minutes they managed to get the woman out of the water. Attempts were made to resuscitate her on the beach, with the help of the volunteer fire brigade and medical staff from the local hospital. However, that was to no avail. According to the Argentinian news site Infobae her partner was taken to the local hospital with hypothermia after the death of the woman was confirmed.
The lake has a maximum depth of 438 meters, and the average surface temperature of the water is 7 to 8 degrees. It is currently summer in Argentina, which means that the water temperature hovers around 12 degrees. In winter it can drop to 4 degrees.
It is not yet clear what exactly killed the woman. A forensic investigation is underway to determine the cause of death.
The tragic incident took place at San Pedro Peninsula, located on Lake Nahuel Huapi near San Carlos de Bariloche, a city of about 200,000 inhabitants. It is Argentina’s main winter sports resort, located about 1,500 kilometers southwest of the Argentine capital of Buenos Aires.
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