“We immediately jumped into the water”: two fishermen save a woman from drowning in the Sète canal

Majide et son frère Youssef tentant de garder la femme hors de l'eau dans l'attente des secours. – DR

Dans la nuit du lundi 20 au 21 mai, une femme est tombée dans le canal de Sète au niveau du pont Sady-Carnot. Deux pêcheurs lui ont porté secours. 

This is a tragedy which was avoided on the night of Monday 20 to Tuesday 21 May, in Sète, thanks to the action of two fishermen and the vigilance of the fishermen. rsquo;a local resident. Around 11:30 p.m., a woman in her sixties fell into the canal near the Sady-Carnot bridge. Alerted by the noise, a resident contacted the authorities. In the meantime, Majide Es Seddyq and his brother Youssef who were fishing between the Sady-Carnot bridge and the station bridge noticed the body drifting.

"Luckily there were two of us"

"We didn’t think, we immediately jumped into the water,” says Majide. "She was on her back, but her head had rolled back and was completely submerged." Majid and Youssef bring the woman back to one of the platforms as best they can. "It really wasn't easy, fortunately there were two of us", he remembers. But the quay is too high for them to go up and the two improvised rescuers decide to wait in the cold water for help to arrive.

The privileged accident trail

They quickly arrive on site with a water rescue vehicle (AVV). They put the woman onto a buoy, and a firefighter gets into the water to transport it to the other side of the canal, where the quay is more accessible. According to rescuers, the person who showed signs of beginning to drown was transported to the Sète hospital center.

The national police, also on the scene, opened an investigation and the possibility of an accident is currently favored. "If these fishermen had not been there to help her, this woman could have drowned", says- we side with the authorities.