3 friends of a 37-year-old Bulgarian whose body was found Blankenberge beach on Tuesday morning have been questioned by police. The lawyer representing 1 of the 3 men says that they are suspected of willful negligence. According to his friends, the dead man had gone for a swim in the sea while drunk on Monday night.
At around 7am on Tuesday morning a person that was out walking found the body of a man washed up on Blankenberge Beach. Although initially the man’s identity was unknown, it soon became clear that he was a 37-year-old Bulgarian when the man’s friends identified him.
They said that they and the dead man had drunk heavily in both Ghent (East Flanders) and Ostend (West Flanders) during Monday evening and we going to spend the night on the beach at Blankenberge. While they were on the beach the man whose body was found yesterday decided to go for a swim in the sea.
“Friends had advised against swimming”
In the meantime, the dead man’s 3 friends have been questioned on suspicion of wilful negligence. An autopsy has found that the man died as a result of drowning.
The lawyer of 1 of the 3 friends Maxim Van Winkel says that there is no question that his client is guilty of wilful negligence. "His friends had advised him not to go swimming. My client didn’t even know that his friend was in danger”.
"They had all drunk a lot and soon fell asleep on the beach. The next day when they woke, they saw the police standing next to a tent. They offered their assistance straight away and identified their friend”.