Man drowns in Rotterdam lake, 7 year old boy resuscitated

A 25-year-old man drowned in the Zevenhuizerplas in Rotterdam on Monday evening, several hours after a 7-year-old boy was also pulled from the water there. The boy was resuscitated on the Nesselande beach and rushed to hospital in critical condition, a police spokesperson confirmed to NU.nl.

The police could not yet confirm the identity of the man who died, but his friends told Dutch media that he was 25 years old. Emergency services responded to reports of a drowning at around 8:45 p.m. First responders tried to resuscitate the man on the beach, but it was to no avail. He died at the scene.

A few hours earlier, emergency services also took a 7-year-old boy out of the lake. The child was resuscitated and rushed to hospital. He was in the water for around 15 minutes, a spokesperson for the local security region, Veiligheidsregio Rotterdam-Rijnmond, said to regional broadcaster Rijnmond. The boy is in critical condition in the hospital.

According to the security region, there is no link between the two victims. 

Bystanders were shaken by the young man's death. "Suddenly I saw four girls running into the water," a witness said to Rijnmond. "Then a friend of the victim panicked and went in too. This is the first time we came here. I can't understand how people got into life threatening danger twice today. Really too bizarre for words."