Rowing club shocked by collision with ship: ‘rowers have been robbed’

The shock is still good at the Katwijk rowing club Ferox after a sloop from the association yesterday evening collided with a cargo ship in Valkenburg. “A ship of that size and so late in the dark came as a total surprise to the rowers. They saw nothing and were totally robbed”, Daniëlle van Leeuwen, board member of Ferox said Broadcaster West.

The collision was on the Oude Rijn in South Holland. Van Leeuwen says that a men’s team was training on the rowing boat. de “There were five men and two women on board. The women were substitutes for the team.”

All seven rowers ended up in the water. Six were able to come ashore themselves, one of them was taken out of the water by people on the side and resuscitated. “The person is still in a critical condition in the hospital,” said Van Leeuwen. Three others were taken to hospital for a check-up. One of them had to stay overnight for observation.

‘Everyone was in shock’

The rowing boat sank to the bottom after the collision. This morning the sloop was taken out of the water.

How the accident could have happened is not yet known. The police are further investigating the accident. “That happens in every shipping accident. We also check here whether rules have been broken and whether anyone can be blamed for anything.”

According to board member Van Leeuwen, the accident had a huge impact on the association. “We are terribly shocked. We are a close-knit association where everyone knows each other.” For the time being there are therefore no rowers on the water. “Nobody’s mind is on that right now.”

The board of the association is making an inventory of what is needed within the association. “Everyone was in shock last night. It’s only now starting to land.” When dealing with this accident, the association must also take the corona measures into account.

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