“He stayed underwater for more than 15 minutes,” says Maud, a resident of the Saint-Denis canal. The firefighters intervened around 4:30 p.m. this Wednesday to rescue a young man who had fallen into the canal, rue Claude-Bernard, in Aubervilliers (Seine-Saint-Denis). Aged 20, he died in hospital after being rescued by firefighters. “Three other men who were also found in the water were slightly injured,” said the Paris fire brigade (BSPP). An investigation has been opened to determine the causes of the victim’s death according to the Bobigny prosecution.
Dogs to sniff out the position of the victims
According to the testimonies of local residents, the young man slipped from the banks, before falling into the water around 4:15 p.m. Not knowing how to swim, he quickly sank to the bottom of the canal. Three other men then dived “probably to rescue him”. “When I passed, there was a crowd of panicked residents on the banks so it was not very clear,” explains Maud, who lives next door.
Alerted, about fifteen firefighters arrived at the scene of the drowning. Among them, a group was dispatched to the area by water in an inflatable zodiac. Two dogs were mobilized. “Even in the water, they can smell traces of body odor. We take them on the boat so that they identify the position of a submerged person. It’s impressive but it works”, indicates the BSPP.
At the scene, rescue teams found four people in the water. “Two had already been there for a few minutes and a third had obviously just jumped in to help them”, details the Paris fire brigade (BSPP). Firefighters quickly dived to rescue the young man at the bottom of the canal.
In “serious condition”, the latter was taken care of by an ambulance, then taken to an intensive care unit. He was pronounced dead in hospital. “His father left with the medical team, reports Maud, moved. Everyone present was very dejected and resigned. »
“This place is not particularly dangerous”
Just after the tragedy, this resident of the neighborhood posted a message on the Facebook group “La Ferme d’Aubervilliers” to express her anger. According to her, the young man was sleeping in a squat where dozens of people in precariousness live. “I know some of them by sight. A young person from this group cleans the cars with water from the canal,” she says.
“This place is not particularly dangerous,” she observes, although she remembers a corpse fished out last year. But there is no barrier on the edges of the channel, then one can fall there easily. »
Since the beginning of July, two other people have died in the Saint-Denis canal, one in Saint-Denis, the other in Aubervilliers. A third was found dead in the Ourcq canal in Pantin.
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