Video: Teen dies after rescue from Dordrecht swimming lake in third drowning this week
An 18-year-old man died Wednesday after being pulled from the water at the recreational lake De Merwelanden in Dordrecht, marking the third fatal water-related incident in the Netherlands in a week that already saw two deaths on Sunday at lakes in Limburg and Overijssel.
The latest incident occurred around 5:45 p.m. at the busy swimming area in Dordrecht, where warm weather had drawn large crowds, RTV Dordrecht reported. Emergency services, including multiple ambulances, fire crews, and a trauma helicopter, were dispatched on a large scale after the young man got into trouble in the water.
He was pulled from the lake at De Merwelanden, given prolonged CPR at the scene, and then rushed to Erasmus MC Rotterdam. The police in Dordrecht said on Instagram that he later died there from his injuries. Authorities said the circumstances of the incident remain unclear and that an investigation is ongoing.
The Dordrecht fatality follows two deadly incidents on Sunday at recreational lakes in Limburg and Overijssel during hot weather.
In Limburg, a German man drowned at Lake Leukermeer in the village of Well. He was swimming with a friend around 2:50 p.m. when he disappeared underwater. When he did not resurface, his companion and others alerted emergency services. Divers, boats, jet skis, and drones were deployed in a large-scale search operation, and the man’s body was later found near the beach in the afternoon.
In Overijssel, emergency services responded around 6:00 p.m. to a possible drowning at the recreation park Het Hulsbeek in Oldenzaal. Visitors were asked to leave the water while rescue teams searched. The person was pulled from the water and resuscitated but died later.
