PARIS – At least nine people have been dragged into the sea and drowned off the south coast of France after the high seas, swept away by strong winds, created dangerous waves that shocked swimmers.
“This toll is dramatic,” Eric Brocardi, a spokesman for the French National Fire Federation, told Franceinfo radio station on Thursday. Mr Brocardi said local authorities had expected a rough sea, provoking warnings against or even banning swimming on certain beaches.
“Unfortunately, some people defied the ban,” he said.
Officials said the deaths, every Wednesday, reflected the dangers of the Mediterranean Sea, which is generally considered calm, but whose submarine currents can be treacherous.
Every year, hundreds of immigrants drown trying to make the journey across the sea from Africa to Europe. In 2019, about 1,300 people died trying to make the crossing, according to the International Organization for Migration.
The death of the swimmers on Wednesday, according to French officials, also highlighted deficiencies in communicating the risks of swimming, especially when there are no lifeguards on duty.
According to local French news, all but one drowned were between 60 and 70. They died while swimming on several beaches in the Aude, Bouches-du-Rhône and Hérault regions, which are administrative divisions. in the south of France and include large cities such as Marseille and Montpellier.
A video attached to a message posted on Twitter on Wednesday, firefighters at the Hérault, where five people were reported dead, showed deceptively small rollers crashing into the shore.
“Annoying seas make water activities dangerous,” the message said. “Avoid swimming.”
The Aude and Bouches-du-Rhône areas had been put on yellow storm alert and Hérault on orange alerts on Wednesday, while the red flag was raised on several beaches, meaning swimming was banned.
“I can’t understand how people could get into the water when the sea was rough,” Jordan Dartier, the mayor of Vias, a city in the Hérault where a person drowned, told French LCI channel LCI. “It’s a dramatic day for our region.”
Several rescue officers have suggested that the warm weather had tempted people to swim and that the waves, while not seeming dangerous, hid dangerous underwater currents.
“The water is hot, you think you will have fun and they will quickly throw you into the open sea and into the bottom, and you will be exhausted trying to return. This is what is causing the drowning,” Aurélien Manenc told TF1. head of the Hérault fire department.
Some officials also said the lack of lifeguards after the end of the summer holiday season had increased the risk for swimmers. Despite being relatively late in the year, many people have flocked to the beaches of southern France this September, attracted by the unusually warm weather.
“We’ll have to ask ourselves the question about tracking our beaches: should we continue in September?” Patrick Vignal, a legislator representing the Hérault region, told BFMTV.
Vignal also questioned whether future swimmers had received enough warning from local authorities.
According to the French health authorities, 250 fatal drownings were recorded from June to August this year, a decrease of 5% compared to the same period in 2018, the last time the figures were collected.