New figures released today (May 11) reveal that 300 people lost their lives in accidental drownings, or drownings in which an accident is suspected, in the UK last year.
The figures, published by the National Water Safety Forum (NWSF), reveal that a large number (112) of those who died did not intend to be in the water – of whom 77 people drowned while out walking or running – while 104 people drowned while partaking in water-based activities.
The total includes 35 people who died from suspected natural causes while or after being in the water.
The NWSF’s Water Incident Database (WAID) compiles drowning statistics from across the UK and breaks these down into deaths by activity, age, geographical location, and location type.
Figures should be treated as provisional – there are a number of records that are either still subject to coroners’ inquests or have been handed open or narrative verdicts, meaning that at this stage it is not possible to derive, with confidence, a classification. As such, these figures are expected to revise upwards.
A full copy of the UK Water-Related Fatalities 2015 report can be viewed at: www.nationalwatersafety.org.uk/waid/info/waid_fatalincidentreport_2016.xls
National Water Safety 