Watch out with ice-skating! A man who fell through just died

Death of ice-skater

A very sad story has emerged today, of a 75-year-old man from Sleeuwijk, who has died after falling through the ice at Hank in Brabant, after trying to skate on it.

The man was seen skating alone in Gat van Loopgauw, on the edge of De Biesbosch nature reserve. He then fell through the ice whilst skating and members of the public tried to get him out. Unfortunately they were not able to and he was in the water for over 15 minutes before the emergency services arrived at around 11am. They then successful retrieved him from the water. He was resuscitated, but later died in hospital in Breda only a few hours later.

Safety on the ice

It’s important to know guys, that ice can be unsafe! The weather is extremely cold, but not quite cold enough and the sun is always helping the ice melt. So far in several places within the Netherlands, emergency services have been called to rescue people falling through the ice. 4 people have fallen through the ice today alone. 2 of these were only children and 1 ended up in hospital.

Us a DutchReview want you to be safe this time of year, yet still have fun.

Tips:

• DO keep checking the weather conditions – you will find plenty online about whether the ice conditions are considered safe in some regions
• DON’T guestimate the thickness of the ice – it’s impossible to tell and especially if you add more than one person into the works it doubles the chances of something going wrong
• DO inform yourselves on what to do in an emergency if you do find yourself or someone else falling through the ice. Watch this!

Okay, okay, we’ve stopped being all parental with you now. 😉 But have fun this week and stay safe!