A seven-year-old girl is the only one of a German family of four to survive a canoe accident on the Veluwemeer in the Netherlands. Both her parents and two years younger sister drowned during an afternoon boat trip. The girl is in the hospital and may have seen everything happen. “The psychological blow to the girl is enormous,” said police spokesman Joost Lanshage.
GVBR
22-07-22, 19:57
Latest update:
22-07-22, 20:05
Source:
Het Nieuwsblad, De Telegraaf
On Thursday 21 July around 3 pm, the emergency services of the Dutch province of Gelderland received a call about a girl who was in the water at the Bremerbergdijk in Biddinhuizen in the Veluwemeer. Lifeboats and a helicopter were deployed. The 7-year-old girl was soon found. She clung to a life preserver. The girl told emergency services that their boat had overturned and that she did not know where her parents and sister were.
According to police spokesman Joost Lanshage, given the circumstances, the girl is doing well physically. “But mentally the blow is huge. She lost her family in one fell swoop and may have seen it all happen.” The girl’s mother (32) was found relatively quickly near the island of De Ral. The German was taken to hospital with an air ambulance, but despite attempts at resuscitation, she did not survive.
No life jackets
According to the police, the search for the other family members was difficult due to the large amount of weed in the water. The canoe was not located until Thursday evening. There was hope for a moment that the father and sister could have made it to safety, but the body of the father (42) was found around 10 p.m. On Friday morning, emergency services also found the body of the 5-year-old sister. Both had drowned.
The German family, from Wuppertal in North Rhine-Westphalia, was not wearing life jackets. This is reported by Jan Hansen, spokesman for the Coast Guard. “In any case, the mother and 7-year-old daughter were not wearing vests at the time they were found.” Police declined to comment further due to the ongoing investigation.
The water sports company, Windy Waters, where the family rented the canoe, says it is very shaken by the events. “We are closed today out of respect for the victims and their relatives. We cannot say anything about the circumstances. Only that in the Netherlands it is not mandatory to wear a life jacket on the water. We always offer them,” it sounds.
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