Chalon-sur-Saône: three children drowned at Saint-Prés Meadows Lake

It is a tragic news that upsets the district of Prés Saint-Jean, in Chalon-sur-Saône, Saône-et-Loire. At the beginning of school holidays, three children, the oldest of whom was about ten years old, sank a few meters from the shore.

• The facts occurred in the early evening

The alert was given around 19:30. An hour later, three bodies were taken out of the water by help: two boys and a girl who were given cardiac mbadages.
They were evacuated to the hospital center of Chalon-sur-Saône. The three victims died, said the prefecture around 10 pm

Important means were deployed: divers of the SDIS 71 were on site, as well as Samu. A total of 37 firefighters were sent to the scene, including nine divers and a water rescuer.

• An investigation has was opened

The children, aged 9, 10 and 13 years, belong to the same siblings. The family lives in the district of Aubépins in Chalon-sur-Saône.

An investigation was opened to determine the precise causes of the tragedy.
The children did not know how to swim. The two youngest ones wanted to dive their feet in the lake of Prés Saint-Jean, where swimming is forbidden . A few meters from the shore, one falls immediately on a peak of several meters.

Elder went to rescue his 10-year-old brother and 9-year-old sister, who were in trouble and lost their footing
All three were found 5 meters deep, where the temperature was the water is 10 degrees, the firefighters said.

The bodies of the victims were transported to the University Hospital of Dijon, where autopsies will be performed. A psychological cell was put in place by the hospital staff to support the relatives of the victims.