Greece Swimming Deaths: 28 Serbians Since June 1
The Foreign Ministry has released its first combined figure for the season. Doctors warn that diving into cold water after hours in the sun is the real danger of swimming in Greece.
How many of our people have died in Greece this summer? Between June 1 and August 13, the answer is 28, according to a tally kept by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The figure was compiled by the Serbian embassy in Athens and the consulate general in Thessaloniki, and it arrives in the middle of August, when Greek beaches are busiest with tourists from Serbia.
This is the first combined figure for the season. Until now, cases had surfaced one at a time, through news of individual tragedies.
“During the period in question, Serbia’s diplomatic and consular missions registered 28 deaths of Serbian nationals,” the ministry said.
Swimming in Greece is not more dangerous than at other destinations because of this. Greece has been Serbia’s top vacation choice for decades, so the number of Serbians on its coast is disproportionately higher than anywhere else.
What happened since early June
The most common causes are cardiac arrest, heart attack, drowning, and temperature shock from entering cold water. The cases that became public, in order, look like this:
- June 9, a 74 year old woman was pulled unconscious from the sea in Perea, near Thessaloniki
- June 28, M. K. (64), a bowler from Backo Gradiste, died in Glarokavos
- June 30, Ljubisa Djordjevic (65) from Leskovac died in the same town
- July 27, Svetomir Cvetkovic, a former court president in Lebane, died
- August 10, Goran Komazec (56) from Belgrade died in Sarti, in Halkidiki
Komazec had gone into a rough sea to help a man being pulled from the shore by the current. We reported on that case earlier; the autopsy has yet to establish the cause of death.
Why is a sudden plunge into cold water so dangerous?
Because a body that has spent hours warming in the sun suddenly gets the opposite command, to hold onto heat. General practitioner Dr. Radmila Sehic explains it this way:
Moving from an extremely warm environment into a much colder one is a shock to the body, like an electric jolt.
Blood vessels in the skin constrict, blood pressure spikes, and the heart and brain take the hit within seconds. That is why this statistic also includes people who had no known diagnosis.
Six pieces of doctors’ advice before you get in the water
None of them are complicated, and all come down to giving your body half a minute more:
- ease into the water gradually, especially after a long time in the sun
- cool down and splash yourself before swimming
- do not go into the sea right after a heavy meal
- alcohol and swimming do not mix
- do not overestimate your swimming ability, waves and currents carry off strong swimmers too
- when the sea is rough, stay closer to shore
A red flag means no swimming, not a suggestion
On Thursday, August 13, a red flag went up on the beach at Polychrono because of large, powerful waves. It signals an unconditional swimming ban, not wading in up to your knees, and not swimming close to shore either.
On top of that, since August 10 a movement ban has applied in parts of the forested areas of the Halkidiki municipalities of Kassandra, Sithonia, and Aristotelis, in effect from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. The fire risk index has reached category 3, authorities have announced on the ground checks, and people or vehicles found in the restricted zones will be removed. The fine for violating the ban is 300 euros.
In practice, that means a drive to a more remote beach or a walk through a pine forest now requires one check before you leave, whether that spot falls inside a restricted zone.
Our advice for the rest of the season is short. Check the flag at the beach entrance before you put your things down, and if it is red, plan that day differently.
