Sucked into a whirlpool while swimming near a dam, a man dies in the Aveyron River in front of his friends

Des pompiers plongeurs ont été mobilisés pour secourir la victime (photo d’illustration). MAXPPP – Arnaud Beinat

Un homme de 59 ans s’est noyé sous les yeux de plusieurs témoins dans la rivière Aveyron à Nègrepelisse, dans le Tarn-et-Garonne, ce jeudi 22 août 2024. Il a été happé dans le tourbillon d’un barrage hydroélectrique.

It is a little after 4 p.m. on Thursday, August 22, 2024, when a group of five people, three men and two women, are swimming in the Aveyron River, in Nègrepelisse, in Tarn-et-Garonne, reports La Dépêche.

Two witnesses dive

There, one of the bathers is sucked to the bottom of the river. Two witnesses dive to rescue him and manage to bring him back to the surface.

The rescue team deploys on board a boat, four firefighter divers are mobilized. Alerted, the city hall cuts the turbines of the hydraulic dam, the time of the intervention, according to the daily.

Brought back to the banks

The victim is brought back to the banks, unconscious. Despite attempts to resuscitate him, the 59-year-old man died.

One of the witnesses, aged 29, in shock, was taken care of by emergency services.

A month earlier, a 21-year-old Afghan national had lost his life at the same location.