Capsized canoe: German mother dies, father's body found; 1 child missing, 1 hospitalized
Update 10:34 a.m. - Article updated to add information about the father's body being found
Update 11:35 a.m. - Article updated to add the missing child's age and gender
A woman pulled out of the Veluwemeer after a canoe accident involving a German family on Thursday afternoon did not survive the accident. Emergency services tried to resuscitate her, but it was to no avail, the police said on Thursday evening. The father's body was found at around 10:00 p.m., the police said on Friday. One child is in hospital. The authorities are still looking for the second child's body.
According to Omroep Flevoland, the only survivor of this tragic accident is a 7-year-old girl. She is in hospital but in good health. According to ANP, the missing child is a 5-year-old girl.
The family’s canoe capsized in the Veluwemeer near Biddinghuizen at around 3:00 p.m. on Thursday. Emergency services responded to the scene after a report of a child in the water, the police said. First responders rescued the child, and an ambulance took her to the hospital. “It quickly became apparent that there were more people in the water,” the police said.
Rescue workers found the mother’s body at around 3:40 p.m. Attempts to resuscitate her proved in vain.
The police, Coast Guard, Fire Department, and others desperately searched for the father and second child. On Thursday evening, the authorities turned the rescue mission into a search for their bodies, considering it very unlikely that they could still be alive. They found the father's body at 10:00 p.m. The search was called off at 11:00 p.m. when it became too dark to see. The police will resume the search on Friday.
The cause of the accident and how it is possible that the father and second child are still missing is unknown. It is also not clear in what state rescue workers found the canoe. Public works department Rijkswaterstaat says that the Veluwemeer is only half a meter deep everywhere, except for the fairway, which is 3 meters deep. According to Omroep Flevoland, there was virtually no current on Thursday.
The police have not released any information about the victims’ identities because their family in Germany still had to be informed of the tragedy. More information is expected later on Friday.
