Three swimmers drown off Hague coast

Three men drowned on Sunday evening while swimming off the coasts of The Hague and Wassenaar. Emergency services received a report of a swimmer in trouble at the Zuiderstrand in The Hague at 18:30 p.m. At around the same time, there was also a report of two swimmers needing help at the Wassenaarse Slag in Wassenaar, the police said.

Major rescue operations were launched, including multiple boats from rescue organization KNRM, the coast guard and the rescue brigade. A trauma helicopter was also deployed. Emergency workers tried to resuscitate the three victims on shore, but it was to no avail. They died at the scene.

According to the KNRM, there was no strong current in the sea at the time of the drownings.The three victims were likely also not deep into the sea, because bystanders helped to bring them to shore, the rescue organization said to NU.nl. The police said that none of the three victims had Dutch nationality, according to the newspaper.