Three swimmers (a 40-year-old from Germany, and a 23-year-old and 21-year-old from Poland) died on Sunday evening, reports NU.nl.

It is known that one of them ran into problems at the Zuiderstrand in The Hague, while the other 2 had problems at the Wassenaarse Slag in Wassenaar.

Emergency services tried to resuscitate them, but the efforts proved to be unhelpful. According to the Royal Netherlands Sea Rescue Institution (KNRM), the swimmers might’ve been too far out into the sea to have drowned as the currents were not strong. With the summer beating down our necks, there were multiple witnesses as the beaches were pretty busy at both locations.

Emergency services were called in around 18:30 at both places. Lifeboats from KNRM, a rescue brigade, trauma helicopter, and the coast guard rushed to their aid.

Increase in number of Dutch people drowning

Might be a bit cynical timing to step out with these numbers, but the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) released numbers that show us that tourists visiting the Netherlands who have drowned in the last year were mostly German.

There has also been an increase in the number of Dutch people drowning in the last year. 85 Dutch people died in 2017, but there was an increase to 112 people in 2018. There is a particular increase in older people. However, there are fewer younger people (children and teenagers) of Dutch nationality drowning.

Hoeveel inwoners van Nederland zijn er in 2018 verdronken? https://t.co/BJvKATYTja pic.twitter.com/0cHjmX6FCb

— CBS (@statistiekcbs) July 22, 2019

Feat image: Korneel Luth/Pixabay