Envelope drowning - Tragic first for Free Famagusta

Summer may be the season that most Cypriots expect. A time when the seas are full of life and most citizens are waiting for it to rest and relax.

But it is also the time when one mistake and one moment can change everything. In just two and a half years, 53 people lost their lives from drowning in the seas of Cyprus.

Sure, if one estimates that our country is visited by several million tourists during the summer months, this number may not be so large, but it does not cease to be 53 souls who were lost so unjustly.

Tragic first for Free Famagusta

Cyprus counted twenty-two dead at sea for 2016. Almost twice as many as any other province had Free Famagusta with nine dead, followed by Larnaca with five. Paphos and Limassol had four each, while in Nicosia there was no drowning.

Of these 22, 17 were men and five were women. In particular, in the Free Province of Famagusta, five people aged 65-74 lost their lives at sea. Besides, the youngest who drowned was between 15-24 years old again in Free Famagusta
In tragic statistics, the fact that all the women who lost their lives were over 65 is also important.

The number of victims increased in 2017 - Famagusta was again first

As if the 22 victims were not enough in 2016, the following year and specifically in 2017, the death toll reached 27. Eleven in Free Famagusta, seven in Paphos, five in Larnaca and four in Limassol. Nicosia has remained firmly last without dead.

Specifically, depending on the age, the number of dead over the age of 75 increased from six to nine and from two to five, aged 55-64. On the contrary, there was a decrease in the ages of 65-74 years.

Of the 27 dead, 16 were men and 11 women, which means that the number of men decreased by one, but there was a more than doubling of the deaths of women from five in 2016 to 11 in 2017.

The messages for 2018 are ominous…

However, although it has not officially entered the summer, Cyprus is already counting four drowning victims. Among the dead is the first victim in the capital in the last three years, while one person drowned in Larnaca and two others in Free Famagusta.

Overall, however, most drownings are recorded in those over 65 years of age.

Does the Interior Ministry plan save the lot?

However, the National Plan for Lifeguarding and Safety of Organized Beaches "SALAMIS" can be considered extremely important. which was presented on Tuesday by the Minister of Interior Konstantinos Petridis at the Coordination Center "ZENON" in Larnaca.

As the Minister explained, "this is the first integrated, unified Beach Safety Plan implemented in Cyprus, which approaches the issue of beach safety in a holistic and scientific way, taking into account the good practices applied in other countries. Its cost amounts to 3 million euros, will be implemented from this tourist season and is a great authority, since it clearly records the plan of a demarcated zone of organized beach based on the relevant decree of the competent authority ".

These are, he said, "85 organized beaches, the installation of lifeguards per beach according to defined criteria that apply internationally, the distribution of lifeguards per province, per beach and per tower according to international standards, the area of ​​responsibility of each tower and patrol program, the area of motor search and rescue equipment and a detailed table of the necessary equipment that must be present in each tower "

The plan, the Minister explained, "further clarifies the necessary qualifications, responsibilities, powers and rights of lifeguards, the new extended, pan-Cypriot lifeguard schedule, which will take into account sunrise and sunset, as well as peak periods and coverage plan." Larnaca and Paphos airport beaches, while an operational protocol for lifeguards is also being set up to find missing persons. "

As stated by Mr. Petridis, "for the implementation of the Plan, the Council of Ministers with its decision on 7/3/2018, approved regulations that make possible the practical implementation of the plan. "Instead of the continuous employment of 164 seasonal lifeguards with 11-month employment contracts as was the case for all seasonal hourly wage earners, 265 lifeguards will be employed on shorter-term employment contracts," he said, adding that in this way there would be but also the available resources depending on the time of year ".

With the implementation of the Plan, the Minister said, "there will be more effective coverage of the airports, as 36 lifeguards based at Larnaca and Paphos airports will be able to intervene in case of a plane crash and at the same time will cover busy neighborhoods. thus utilizing equipment purchased with European funds and to this day remains unused ".

For the implementation of the Plan, the Administration of the Search and Rescue Coordination Center, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Provincial Administrations cooperated and as explained by the Commander of KSED, Captain Konstantinos Fytiris, an effort will be made to implement the Plan as soon as possible. material, there will be redistribution of motor boats while there will be a communication network of pan-Cypriot scope so that all the towers can communicate with each other.

He added that the tower with two lifeguards will cover an area of ​​250 meters, their opening hours will be from 7 in the morning until seven in the afternoon, depending on the traffic of each beach. Specifically, he said, there will be 123 lifeguards in Paphos, in Limassol 78, in Larnaca 64 while the Municipalities of Paralimni, Sotira and Ayia Napa have fully undertaken the lifeguard coverage of their beaches and will be included in the unified beach safety system as Famagusta province.

May this plan help to reduce drownings and our fellow citizens and tourists to avoid the worst in the seas of Cyprus.

Source: Reporter