A 20-year-old, who was swimming in the sea in Ostend on Saturday evening, has died after ending up in difficulty in the water. The emergency services rescued the youngster from the sea on Saturday evening. He was taken to hospital but later died.
The youngster from Molenbeek in Brussels had been swimming in the sea in a dangerous spot, off the city’s western breakwater near the port, in treacherous conditions and after life guards had left for the evening.
It had been particularly blowy all day and consequently a red flag had been hoisted on this stretch of beach all day to indicate no swimming was permitted. The incident happened around 7:30PM – an hour after life guards go off duty.
Friends of the youngster had attempted to rescue him when they saw he was in difficulty but had failed. One was injured in the process.
“It was far too dangerous to go swimming” head life guard Levy Meyer told VRT. “That’s why the red flag had been hoisted all day banning swimming. The guy went for a swim after the life guards service had been halted”.
Meyer advises people only to go swimming during hours there is life guard supervision, from 10:30AM to 6:30PM, and to follow instructions from life guards.
Mayor Bart Tommelein is asking the Flemish, Brussels and Walloon authorities to alert people to the fact that swimming at sea isn’t allowed during hours when no life guards are present.