Overview
- Most bathing accidents occur at unguarded rivers and lakes, the DLRG warns.
- Nationwide drowning fatalities climbed from 380 in 2023 to 411 in 2024.
- Men accounted for 311 of last year’s drowning deaths while 60 percent of victims were over 55.
- Sudden cold-water shock, alcohol use and underestimated currents in rivers such as the Main and Rhine heighten accident risks.
- In Hesse, DLRG volunteers rescued 88 people, assisted about 5,000 bathers and logged roughly 201,000 service hours as local drownings fell from 18 to 12.