Belgrade Man, 56, Dies in Greece Sea Trying to Save Stranger
A tourist from Belgrade went into the sea at Sarti to help a swimmer caught in a strong current. Resuscitation failed, and Greek authorities are now establishing the circumstances of his death.
Goran Komazec (56), from Belgrade, died on August 10 on the beach at Sarti, in Halkidiki, Greece, after entering the sea to help a stranger being pulled away from the shore by a strong current. Doctors at the Agios Nikolaos Health Center confirmed his death. Greek authorities have opened an inquiry into the circumstances under which the Serbian tourist lost his life.
He was on the beach that day with his wife and underage son. Sarti is a resort on Sithonia, the middle peninsula of Halkidiki, and one of the destinations where large numbers of Serbian visitors spend their summers.
How did the accident at Sarti happen?
A strong sea current began pulling an unidentified man away from the shore. Komazec went into the water to help him. His underage son jumped into the sea right after him.
A lifeguard pulled the Belgrade man out of the water unconscious and immediately began CPR. It did not work. He was taken by ambulance from Sarti to the Agios Nikolaos Health Center, where doctors could only confirm his death.
Nothing is known so far about the man Komazec tried to save. His identity has not been released, nor has it been said how his own attempt to get out of the current ended.
Autopsy in Thessaloniki to determine cause of death
According to unofficial information, shock combined with sudden immersion in cold water is suspected to have caused cardiac arrest. That remains a working theory, not a finding.
The official cause of death will be established by autopsy. The body has therefore been transferred to Thessaloniki. Until the findings are in, everything published so far about why the 56-year-old lost consciousness in the water remains speculation.
Greek authorities are leading the inquiry into the circumstances of his death. What it covers and how far it has progressed has not been disclosed by Greece. Officially, only the place and date are known, along with the fact that death was confirmed at a medical facility in Agios Nikolaos after resuscitation on the beach had already failed.
Thessaloniki consulate offers support to the family
The General Consulate of the Republic of Serbia in Thessaloniki was informed of the case. The consulate has made itself available to the family of the Belgrade man.
His wife and underage son were with him on the beach when the accident happened. The son went into the sea after his father. How the boy got out of the water has not been disclosed, and his name is not being published because he is a minor.
Drownings are not limited to the sea
This summer’s drowning accidents are not confined to Greek beaches. Serbian Novine previously reported on the drowning of a young man in Borča, whose body divers recovered from a canal.
The difference between the two cases lies in who was on the scene. At Sarti, a lifeguard was on the beach, pulled the Belgrade man out of the sea and started CPR immediately, and an ambulance took him to the nearest medical facility. In Borča, a diving team had to be called in to retrieve the body from the canal.
Help at Sarti, in other words, arrived fast. This time it was not enough.
The Greek inquiry is ongoing. The autopsy findings from Thessaloniki will be the first official document on the cause of death, and only after that will it be known whether the 56-year-old from Belgrade died of drowning or of cardiac arrest in the water.
