On Sunday afternoon, using a drone, lifeguards monitoring the beach in Vecāķi spotted two people on an inflatable mattress who were a good bit behind the buoys. The people were spoken to on the drone's loudspeaker and it was confirmed that they needed help.
Lifeguards immediately went into the water to help the persons, a man and a woman, return to shore safely. During the conversation, the man explained that the air mattress was being carried out to sea by the current, so he jumped from the mattress into the water and tried to bring the mattress, on which the woman was lying, to the shore. Due to the strong current and wind, this was not possible and the two swimmers were carried further and further out to sea.
"It was only by a lucky coincidence that the lifeguards became involved in the rescue, because when the two swimmers were addressed by drone and asked if they needed help, they raised their hands in accordance with the lifeguards' instructions, thus signaling that help was needed. However, as the man later admitted, he had raised his hand because he thought he was being filmed and not offered help," the RPP said.
On the same day, two young people also experienced a similar situation on the same beach, but one of them managed to get to shore on his own to ask for help.
The RPP urges people not to be reckless and to assess both their own strength and swimming skills and the direction of the wind when swimming, and under no circumstances to swim behind buoys placed in the water for the safety of swimmers.
The RPP reminds you that swimming outside the buoys can not only endanger your life but is also an administrative offense for disturbing public order and the fine for such an offense for a natural person can be up to €500.
