Millions of people from the UK visit Portugal each year
People are being urged to take care while near water in Portugal after some 97 people died by drowning in the European nation between January 1 and October 31 of this year. The deaths have been reported by Drowning Observatory of the Portuguese Federation of Lifeguards (FEPONS).
Almost all of these deaths occurred in unguarded areas. According to CNN Portugal, which quotes Lusa, almost all of these deaths (96.9%) occurred in unsupervised areas, with 56.7% occurring in inland areas of the country.
Some 43.3% of deaths were at sea, 29.9% in rivers, 7.2% in wells, 5.2% in dams, and 5.2% in domestic swimming pools. April was the month in which the most deaths occurred (26.8%), followed by August (13.4%) and July (11.3%).
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Ninety-seven people drowned by October 31, mostly in aquatic environments and in unsupervised areas, according to data from the report by the Drowning Observatory of the Portuguese Federation of Lifeguards (FEPONS). In a statement released this Tuesday, FEPONS specifies that in 10 months, 97 deaths were recorded, almost all (96.9%) in unsupervised areas and the majority (56.7%) in inland areas of the country.
Most people who died from drowning were men (77.3%) over 40 years old (57.7%), with most cases occurring during leisure sea bathing (21.6%), boat fishing (10.3%), vehicle falls into water (4.1%), and recreational shellfish fishing (4.1%). 14.4% of cases happened in the Porto district, 13.4% in Setúbal, and 11.3% in Lisbon.
According to the document, 30.9% of deaths were witnessed, with attempted rescue. The Drowning Observatory is a system created by the Portuguese Federation of Lifeguards to account for drowning deaths in Portugal. The record is made through “links” or images of newspaper clippings.
