Man, 70, Dies After Resuscitation at Kosutnjak Pool
Serbia's Institute for Sport and Sports Medicine said a man of about 70 died at the Kosutnjak Olympic pool in Belgrade, despite resuscitation attempts by lifeguards and the pool physician.
A man of about 70 died on the afternoon of August 6 at the Kosutnjak Olympic pool in Belgrade. The death was the result of an accident, according to Serbia’s Institute for Sport and Sports Medicine, the institution that runs the complex.
The Institute’s lifeguards pulled him from the water unconscious. The Institute’s physician on duty began resuscitation immediately, and an ambulance crew soon took over. The emergency teams could only confirm that he had died.
What the Institute’s statement says
The institution issued a brief public statement the same day.
We hereby inform the public that today, during the afternoon hours, a man aged around 70 tragically lost his life in an accident at the Kosutnjak Olympic pool.
The statement lists the man as unidentified. That means his identity had not been officially established at the time of publication, so the Institute released neither his name nor his place of residence. Officers from the Interior Ministry (MUP) began the further procedure required by law.
The statement gives no cause of death, makes no mention of any forensic findings, and does not say how long the man had been in the water. The Institute confined itself to describing the incident as an accident and to detailing how the intervention unfolded.
Why is the period from noon to 5 p.m. singled out as risky?
Alongside the announcement of the death, the Institute urged pool visitors to observe existing safety rules, with particular caution on days of extreme heat.
The period between noon and 5 p.m. is additionally risky, especially for older residents and those with existing health conditions.
The Kosutnjak pool is open every day from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., nine hours in total. Five of those nine hours fall within the window the Institute itself flags as elevated risk. More than half the pool’s daily operating hours overlap with the part of the day the Institute is asking people to treat with extra caution, and that stretch also draws the largest crowds.
The appeal singled out three groups of visitors:
- older residents
- people with existing health conditions
- all visitors on days of extreme heat
Who is on duty at the pool while it’s open
The Institute for Sport and Sports Medicine’s on-call medical service will keep staffing the pool for as long as it remains open to visitors. The same goes for the MUP Cukarica officer stationed there, according to the statement. This is standing practice at the complex, not a measure introduced after this incident.
Because of that arrangement, the full chain of help was already on site on August 6. Lifeguards responded first, then the Institute’s physician, then the ambulance crew. The time between pulling the man from the water and the start of resuscitation was cut to the minimum a city pool can manage. The outcome did not change.
The Institute has not announced any suspension of the pool’s operations following the incident. The statement makes no mention of a temporary closure or a change in hours, instead repeating the existing 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. schedule and calling for consistent compliance with the rules already in place.
The Institute closed its statement with condolences.
With great sorrow, we extend our sincere condolences to the family and friends of the deceased.
The Kosutnjak Olympic pool is one of the few outdoor facilities in Belgrade that operates under the supervision of a state institution through the summer, with a physician on shift. That is precisely why its recommendation about the riskiest hours carries more weight than an ordinary appeal. It comes from a service that watches, day after day at that very location, how heat affects older swimmers.
