Overview
- Emergency services and a trauma helicopter responded to reports of a kitesurfer in trouble near Tweede Slag and found a man in the dunes who could not be resuscitated.
- Police say the incident is a fatal accident, the body was recovered by rescuers and the victim’s identity has not been released.
- Local eyewitness photographers reported the man had been on the beach with family members when the incident occurred.
- The Nederlandse Kitesurf Vereniging says kitesurfing has grown roughly tenfold over the past decade to several hundred thousand participants, increasing exposure to coastal incidents.
- The KNRM sea rescue service, which often answers kitesurf calls where only equipment is adrift, has urged surfers to put phone numbers on gear and to contact the coastguard when items are lost to reduce unnecessary or delayed rescues.