Fatal household accidents on the rise in Switzerland

Older people are particularly vulnerable to fatal falls, statistics show. Keystone-SDA

More and more people are dying in accidents at home or during leisure activities, with suffocations and fatal falls rising sharply in the last decade.

Demographic shifts are a main cause of the rising numbers: as the population ages, so does the risk of being fatally injured in such an accident, the Swiss Council for Accident Prevention (BFU) said on Tuesday.

According to the BFU, 1,700 people in Switzerland die in falls every year; this number increased by 20 per year over the last decade. The BFU also noted an increase in fatal suffocations, which increased by an average of three per year to reach a current annual total of 135.

Overall, the number of fatal accidents at home and in leisure time has risen by an average of 31 annually to a total of 2,100 a year.

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The average age of people killed in such accidents is 82. The average age of people killed in traffic or sports accidents is 53.

According to the BFU, there has been no change in the number of children killed in accidents over the last ten years. Every year, 14 children die in accidents at home and during leisure time, half of whom are infants and toddlers. Children are particularly at risk of fatal injury from suffocation, drowning and falls from a height.

One of the biggest dangers, of which many parents are unaware, is drowning, the BFU says. Only a fifth of parents or caregivers are aware that small children can drown silently, without giving any signs.

Adapted from German by DeepL/dos

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