Beach walkers on the Baltic Sea suddenly sank waist-deep in sand last week. The Kühlungsborn Volunteer Fire Department rushed to help in the unusual operation.
Kühlungsborn – Most people only know Quicksand from adventure films. But recently a family of holidaymakers in the Baltic Sea resort of Kühlungsborn in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania became acquainted with this phenomenon themselves. Father, mother and daughter were temporarily stuck in the sand up to their waists, and the volunteer fire department had to rescue the family from the predicament on Friday (October 27th). NDR reported. Apparently it wasn’t the only case in the area.
Quicksand on the Baltic Sea: Fire brigade in unusual action
The vacationing family was on the Baltic Sea near Buhne 8 in Kühlungsborn-Ost when they suddenly sank into the sand. The father was apparently able to free himself and alert the emergency services. Not an everyday operation for the Kühlungsborn Volunteer Fire Department (FFW) either: in order to avoid sinking in, shovels and ice sleds were used during the rescue, Maik Garkisch, the fire chief of the FFW Kühlungsborn, explained to NDR. The emergency services were also secured with life jackets and fire lines.
The mother and daughter were then “digged free,” Garkisch continued. Since the waves were not high, the family was never in danger, according to NDR. The entire operation only lasted ten minutes. “We were really fast,” said Garkisch. In the end the story ended well. According to the fire department, after the successful rescue, the three vacationers were even able to laugh about the incident and gave the helpers some money for the next barbecue evening.
Continue to be careful: This is how the “quicksand” came about
Because of the storm surge in the previous days, the sand was already softened, according to NDR from the Kühlungsborn volunteer fire department about the background to the incident. The ground is currently particularly soft at the so-called “water hammer”, i.e. where the sea meets the beach. In some cases, so-called water bubbles could also form there. If people step on such an area while walking, sinking is possible.
The “quicksand” is not a widespread problem. The fire department but still appealed to all beach walkersto pay particular attention at this time. A warning sign is, for example, if the surface feels like a carpet, according to the experts. Ideally, walkers avoid wet beach areas better. Apparently the quicksand accident was not an isolated incident: several people were loud in the area Baltic Sea newspaper Some of them were buried up to their thighs in the sand, but everyone was able to free themselves.
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