Number of child drownings on the rise in Switzerland
With 17 cases, teenagers and young men aged 16 to 32 accounted for almost 30% of the deaths.
Keystone-SDA
Select your language
Generated with artificial intelligence.
Listening: Number of child drownings on the rise in Switzerland
The number of drownings in Switzerland fell slightly last year. A total of 58 people lost their lives in water in 2023. The majority of victims were young men and children. There was a marked increase in drownings among children.
This content was published on
3 minutes
Keystone-SDA
Français
fr
Le nombre de noyades d’enfants est en hausse en Suisse
Original
The 58 cases recorded last year remain above the long-term average of 47 cases per year, said the Swiss Lifesaving Society on Monday. With 17 cases, teenagers and young men aged 16 to 32 accounted for almost 30% of the deaths.
In this age group, no female victims were recorded. A taste for risk and an overestimation of individual abilities may explain the high rate of drowning on the male side.
Never before have so many children up to the age of 16 drowned since 2007. In four of the seven cases, the children were under ten. A one-year-old drowned in a bucket of water in the family garden, another in a river, two in a swimming pool, and three in a lake.
Saving the dog
Conversely, 12 people over the age of 65 drowned last year, compared with more than twice that number in 2022 (26 victims). It is possible that medical problems and an overestimation of physical abilities played a role.
In three cases, it is assumed that the victims (two aged 53 and one aged 61) drowned by jumping into the water to save their dog.
The majority of fatal drownings occurred in open water. The 29 deaths that occurred in lakes accounted for half of all cases, while river drownings accounted for 40% (24 deaths).
There is a direct correlation between high temperatures and hours of sunshine on the one hand, and the number of drownings on the other. According to MeteoSwiss, the summer of 2023, with its sunny June, was the fifth-hottest since measurements began in 1864. Many people wanted to enjoy the water relatively early in the year.
However, the summer was disrupted by bad weather in August, which contributed to the fact that the number of fatal drownings was not higher.
Translated from French with DeepL/gw
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, if you want to learn more about how we use technology, click here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
Popular Stories
More
Climate adaptation
Why Switzerland is among the ten fastest-warming countries in the world
High-net-worth individuals prioritise well-being over material possessions
This content was published on
The priorities of wealthy private individuals have shifted against the backdrop of ongoing geopolitical tensions and trade disputes. While spending on luxury goods is declining, demand for travel and experiences is unabated.
Swiss researchers sequence genome of 1918 Spanish flu virus
This content was published on
Researchers from the Universities of Basel and Zurich (UZH) have sequenced the genome of the Spanish flu virus, thanks to a sample taken from an 18-year-old Swiss boy who died in the city on the Limmat in 1918, when the pandemic spread around the world.
Swiss martyr beatified in Barcelona by Catholic Church
This content was published on
François-Benjamin May (1870-1909), a member of the Marist Brothers congregation, has been recognised as a 'blessed' by the Catholic Church.
Prevention and tech could help save billions on Swiss healthcare costs, says Deloitte
This content was published on
By focusing on prevention and technology, it would be possible to reduce Switzerland's healthcare bill by CHF30 billion a year by 2040, according to Deloitte Switzerland.
Environment director warns of increasing climate-related risks in Switzerland
This content was published on
The director of the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) has warned of increasing climate-related risks in Switzerland in an interview with SonntagsBlick on Sunday.
Gotthard traffic queue hits 11km at start of holiday season
This content was published on
The start of the summer holidays saw a long traffic jam in front of the Gotthard tunnel on Saturday. Traffic jams between Erstfeld and Göschenen in canton Uri were up to 11 kilometres long early in the morning.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.