A passerby rescued a man from the Wilhelminasluis in Zaandam this afternoon. Both the victim and his rescuer were taken to hospital for a check-up.
The police received a report at 5:47 p.m. that a man was lying in the water at the Beatrix Bridge. A passer-by tried to save the man, who according to someone from the security region was ‘heavily under the influence of alcohol’, from the water before the emergency services arrived.
According to a spokesman for the security region, it is not certain how exactly the man ended up in the water. He can’t tell himself either, because he had drunk so much. “Nothing is certain yet, also because the man was heavily under the influence,” the spokesperson told NH News. “There are images circulating of the man showing him falling or jumping. But those are just fragments, so it’s difficult to see. What we do see on the images is that the bridge is in an upward position and he is falling from the side falls off.”
An investigation into the accident is currently underway. The bridge was closed for less than an hour but has since been released. Both men were taken to hospital.
“The rescuer climbed into the ambulance himself, he was taken to the hospital for a check-up because of the low temperatures outside. The victim is less approachable, but that is also due to the alcohol in his system,” said the spokesperson.