One killed, two missing after boat capsizes in Noord-Brabant
Update, 9 p.m. on 3 October 2023: The two missing people were presumed dead, authorities said. The search for their bodies will continue, but rescue efforts were scaled down after sunset.
A boat capsized near Dinteloord on Tuesday afternoon. One person is believed to have died, and two others are still missing. The incident concerned a small recreational fishing boat.
The regional security office for the western and central part of Boord-Brabant announced shortly before 6:15 p.m. that one person was removed from the water and that three people were missing. At 7:00 p.m., it was confirmed that one person had died, and two people were missing.
According to the regional security office, there were four people on the boat when it capsized.
The incident occurred close to the boat harbor in Dinteloord, Noord-Brabant. The town lies near the borders of the provinces of Zeeland and Zuid-Holland and is close to the historic Fort Sabina. The boat capsized in a body of water known as the Volkerak, a section of the Rhine-Meuse-Scheldt delta.
Emergency service records indicate that first responders were dispatched to the scene shortly after 4:30 p.m. A significant number of police officers, firefighters, and paramedics were sent. Two trauma teams were sent to the scene by helicopter.
Diving teams from the fire department were also present at the scene. A Dutch Coast Guard search-and-rescue helicopter was seen searching the area of the water directly west of the boat harbor.
Shortly before 5 p.m., the situation was scaled up to a major water accident and was declared a Grip 1 regional emergency. A Grip 1 emergency calls for all first responders to work under a single incident commander.
The cause of the accident was not immediately revealed. The security office could not provide more information about the incident.
In the period just after the accident, the area experienced sustained winds of about 30 kilometers per hour with gusts of wind up to 42 kilometers per hour.
