ČTK
Updated 22 minutes ago
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While sailing Moravia near Moravičany in the Šumperk region, a 26-year-old paddler fell out of an inflatable canoe and was swept away by a current. The accident happened on Sunday evening, alcohol probably also played a role. Police and firefighters immediately began searching for the young man, but they had not yet found him. The search continues, but is hampered by constant rain. It has been raining steadily in the region since nighttime and the river level has also risen.
The accident happened around 5:30 p.m. “According to initial information, four young people rode down the river in an inflatable canoe, and as it turned out, they did not avoid drinking alcohol. No one was able to help him, “said police spokeswoman Jiřina Vybíhalová.
The young man was immediately sought by the people present, as well as by police officers and several units of professional and volunteer firefighters. “The search for the young paddler is now continuing. We will deploy specific forces and resources with regard to the current assessment of the river level and climatic conditions,” said a police spokeswoman. According to her, the rain is hard to find.
According to firefighter spokesman Zdeněk Hošák, it was a very demanding intervention, the situation was confusing and dramatic. According to him, the ship overturned near Moravičany in a strong current of the Morava River with a crew of four. “Firefighters got two people from the water to safety, the third they searched in the village, in an attempt to call for help. Using several lifeboats, they then searched in cooperation with the police for the fourth person,” said a spokesman for the fire brigade. According to him, the situation was very complicated by strong storms and increased river levels. The police continue to search for the paddler on Monday, the spokesman added.
Police officers in the region have also had another large-scale search operation, in the past almost three weeks searching for a senior from Oskava in the Šumpersk region, missing in connection with the flash floods at the beginning of June. They didn’t find the body until Wednesday last week. This is the second victim of floods in the Olomouc region. The first was a forty-seven-year-old woman from Břevence, a local part of Šumvald in the Olomouc district. Across the country, the June floods claimed at least nine lives.
