REPORTAGE: Adults and children are drowning. Ministry of Emergency Situations urges to follow the rules of behavior on the water

More than 100 people have drowned in Belarus over the past month, 11 of them are children. News about people dying on the water appears literally every day. The fault of all these tragedies is most often human carelessness. Children may not know how to behave properly on the water, and adults sometimes do not try to explain it to them. Therefore, rescuers pay increased attention to preventing the death of people on lakes and rivers. One of the directions is aviation monitoring, when employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations observe water bodies from the air. BelTA correspondents flew over the southern part of the MINSK region in a rescue helicopter and learned about the situation in the water bodies of the central region.

To understand how serious and acute the problem of death of people on the water, it is enough to turn to statistics. Last year, 206 people drowned in Belarus. This year, as of early July, 193 people have died on the water. In other words, in half a year, swimming in lakes and rivers led to the tragedy of almost the same number of people as in the whole of last year. Not only adults, but also children drown. There were cases when a child died in front of his parents. One such incident occurred on the Ptich River in the Pukhovichi District. Parents rested with their six-year-old son. The boy was wearing a life jacket, but decided to take it off, jumped into the water and disappeared from view. Parents rushed to search, but it was too late. Rescuers pulled the boy's body out of the water.

Rescuers are monitoring the situation not only from the ground, but also from the air. Forest areas are also in sight: in hot weather, there is a high risk of forest fires, so the aviation of the Ministry of Emergency Situations inspects the forests from a helicopter every day. Due to the steadily growing number of people dying on the water, rescue aircraft have another equally important task - they follow rivers and lakes from helicopters. The crew, as a rule, consists of two people: a pilot and an observer pilot. One controls the helicopter, while the other inspects the forests and water bodies and makes notes in his notebook. Based on the results of observations, conclusions are drawn and measures are taken.

The route ran along the south of the Minsk region. The greatest danger is represented by reservoirs not equipped for swimming. There are no buoys, no lifeguards. If employees of the helicopter raid of the Ministry of Emergency Situations notice from the air a large number of people on such lakes and rivers, they warn them through a loudspeaker. At the same time, experts note: more and more often the question arises of transferring the most massive unequipped reservoirs to the category of safe ones. Most often, we are talking about places where for a long time people, for example, residents of a village located on the shore of a particular reservoir, bathe for many years and at the same time there are no tragic cases. According to experts, a safe place of rest is created by nature, there is a convenient coastline where you can arrange a safe beach. But in such popular recreation areas, it is also important to install buoys and send rescuers on duty. And here it is up to the local authorities.

Unfortunately, even on waters equipped for swimming, where there are buoys and lifeguards, it is not always possible to avoid tragedy. On one of the beaches of the Minsk Sea, a 14-year-old teenager decided to conquer a serious distance and did not calculate his strength. Rescuers rushed to help, but the distance played a role - literally one minute was not enough to prevent the tragedy.

If we talk about tragedies on the water, then most often the fault is human carelessness. During the summer holidays, children have too much free time. Parents, who are usually at work, cannot watch their child around the clock. But talking, explaining how to behave while swimming in a river or lake is simply necessary. "It won't affect me" - thinking is fundamentally wrong. It is important to understand that sad statistics are not just numbers on paper. Behind each such figure lies the tragedy of not one person, but the whole family. And it can be avoided if you do not treat the problem carelessly, follow the rules of behavior on the water, do not swim in unequipped water bodies and, most importantly, convey all the important points to the child, talk to him about possible situations.

However, it is important to remember not only children about such safety rules. Adults are much more likely to die. At the same time, they are familiar with the rules of safe behavior at water bodies. Here, ALCOHOL often plays a fatal role . In a state of intoxication, swimming is strictly prohibited, but people who have drunk persistently strive into the water. In many cases, this ends in the saddest outcome.

The Ministry of Emergency Situations strongly recommends that safety rules on water bodies should not be neglected. They are not just invented. They are simple, few of them, but they will help to avoid tragedy. It is important for adults to remember that they are responsible not only for their lives, but also for the life of their child. When relaxing on a pond with children, it is important to be extremely careful. It is important for children to explain that swimming without adults is very dangerous, and therefore you can go to the reservoirs only under the close supervision of elders. A moment of inattention on the part of adults can cost children's lives.

Andrey VOROPAY,

Photo by Pavel ORLOVSKY,

BELTA.