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Water-related accidents claimed six lives and left five other people in critical condition nationwide on Sunday, police and firefighters said.
In Nankoku, Kochi Prefecture, a four-year-old boy playing in a swimming pool at a leisure facility with his family drowned, Sankei Shimbun reported. In Kanagawa Prefecture, off the coast of Yokosuka, a 47-year-old man who had come to gather shellfish with two friends also drowned.
In Hamada, Shimane Prefecture, a 74-year-old man was found floating in the sea. His death was confirmed at a nearby hospital.
In Ibaraki Prefecture, along the coast of Hokota City, a woman in her 30s who was visiting the beach with friends drowned. In Chiba Prefecture, at a beach in Onjukumachi, a man in his 50s or 60s was discovered floating in the sea. His death was confirmed at a hospital and Chiba Prefectural Police are working to confirm his identity.
In Ito, Shizuoka Prefecture, an 18-year-old male college student who was swimming in the sea drowned. In addition, in Kanagawa Prefecture, an 11-year-old boy who was swimming in a river in Sagamihara City with his family got into difficulties and is currently unconscious in a critical condition. He is one of five people unconscious after water-related accidents.
© Japan Today
9 Comments
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smithinjapan
Drowned in a swimming pool while with family... unbelievable. The weekly report of preventable deaths is in! I really wish people here would learn instead of taking the old "won't happen to me (until it does)" attitude.
commanteer
If you've seen just how insanely crowded these large leisure pools can get in August, you wouldn't find this so astounding. The pool I've taken my kids to has lifeguards posting all around each pool, but I could still imagine a drowning going unnoticed in the mass of swimmers.
John-San
I think last years was 12 water deaths.
Disillusioned
That's 11 in one day? The four year old boy drowning in a resort pool is pretty strange. Pools in Japan are usually extremely strictly supervised. I was at the beach in Chiba over the weekend. The waves were pretty rough for non-experienced swimmers. They were pretty good for a surf though.
Ron Barnes
With so many seas surrounding Japan don't anybody learn to swim and do rescues and reasusitation
bullfighter
Do you have any evidence that this attitude is more prevalent "here" (presumably Japan) than it is elsewhere? I just did a Google search on "drowning deaths." An average of 3,500 people die each year in the US from drowning. It is a major cause of death for children. Your statement would be better without the "here." It's not just a "here" problem. What you describe is a general pattern in human behavior and psychology, not one specific to "here."
kohakuebisu
I can't say whether it applies to this case, but I remember hearing that young children in particular can drown even in shallow water. They just have to get their face into it, swallow some, and panic/start having breathing problems.
If it's one guardian and two young kids, there are lots of scenarios where the adult gets distracted.
ArtistAtLarge
Accidents happen. Please be careful when around open water. It can happen to anyone.