On Friday, a man died in Rīga, the Daugava river.
On Saturday, two dead people were found in water bodies in Cēsis city and Cēsis municipality Kaive parish, whereas on Sunday, one victim was found in the municipality of Rēzekne and one in the municipality of Talsi.
In all cases, the victims have been handed over to State Police.
As repeatedly reported by LSM over the years, Latvia has a serious problem with a huge number of drownings and other water tragedies every year. Latvia consistently tops European league tables for drownings per capita with dozens of deaths both in summer and in winter when reckless fishermen regularly fall through the ice.
By mid-july this year, the VUGD had already pulled over 50 dead bodies from the water in 2022. This figure does not include other drownings when bodies were recovered without the help of the VUGD. According to the Disease Prevention and Control Center (SPKC), 129 people drowned in Latvia in 2020.
