After the death of an eleven-year-old student while kayaking in Upper Bavaria, the public prosecutor’s office is examining whether someone is responsible for the accident. “The facts are currently being clarified,” said a press spokeswoman for the Munich II public prosecutor’s office on Monday.
The boy belonged to a group of fourteen who were traveling on the Ammer in the Weilheim-Schongau district on Saturday. According to the police, his boat capsized near Rottenbuch. Rescue workers were only able to find and recover the boy’s body after two and a half hours.
In this area, the Ammer runs through a gorge in the forest, which is a popular white water route for canoeists. According to the Bavarian Canoe Association, no flooding was recorded at the weekend – the water level was around 90 centimeters. According to the police, however, there was a strong current, which made search and rescue operations difficult.
The Ammer is classified as a moderately difficult body of water, explained the managing director of the German Canoe Association (DKV), Dieter Reinmuth. According to the DKV officer, “canoeing is basically not a dangerous sport”. The number of fatal accidents was 17 in 2022, compared to seven in 2021, according to the association’s statistics. Many accidents are due to a lack of swimming aids: “Appropriate protective equipment always means wearing a life jacket and a helmet in white water,” emphasizes Reinmuth.