At the start of the active summer season, the country has already recorded its first fatal incident at sea in the Burgas region. The tragedy occurred over the weekend at the beach in Kiten and once again brings the issue of water safety and compliance with swimming rules to the forefront.
Police confirmed that the incident took place on June 19, with the deceased being a 75-year-old man from Plovdiv. According to his wife, he had spent the entire day on the beach exposed to the sun, after which he entered the water, collapsed, and drowned. Pre-trial proceedings have been initiated in the case.
According to data from the Bulgarian Water Safety Association, about 7 million tourists vacationed along the Bulgarian Black Sea coast last year. Nevertheless, our country remains among the nations with a higher-than-average number of drownings for the European Union – an alarming indicator influenced by both natural conditions and the human factor.
Water safety experts identify several key risk groups. Among them are children around 14 years of age, who often lack sufficient supervision and do not have good swimming skills. Men between 25 and 45 years old also carry high risk, especially when they combine swimming with alcohol consumption or exhibit risky behavior in the water.
Added to the vulnerable groups are tourists who are unfamiliar with local sea characteristics and underestimate currents and surf, socially vulnerable people without basic swimming training, as well as migrants, refugees, and fishermen who spend a lot of time around the water and often work in riskier conditions.
"There are always people whose health, one way or another, does not hold up. There are also risk groups. We are doing everything possible to reduce fatal cases. It happens least often at the beginning of the season," commented Yavor Milenov, a lifeguard at a beach in Sozopol. He emphasized that following lifeguard instructions and paying attention to signaling are of key importance for safety.
Milenov reminded beachgoers that they should follow the beach flags – a green flag means conditions for swimming are good, yellow warns of increased caution and riskier conditions, and red prohibits entering the water. Ignoring flag signaling is often at the root of serious accidents during the summer season.
A particularly dangerous phenomenon at sea is the so-called "rip current" – a strong coastal current that pulls outward and creates the feeling that a person "cannot return" to the shore, no matter how hard they swim. The advice from lifeguards in such a situation is definitive: one should not swim directly to the shore against the current, because they will quickly become exhausted. Instead, one should swim parallel to the shore until they exit the current zone, and only then head back to land.
Water safety specialists call for more attention to personal health – elderly people and those with chronic illnesses should avoid staying in the strong sun for long periods and entering cold water suddenly, as well as combining alcohol with swimming. Parents are advised not to leave children without constant supervision, even with the presence of lifeguards and shallow water.
The tragic case in Kiten so early in the season serves as a reminder that the sea requires respect and discipline. Adhering to the basic rules – following signaling, sober behavior, a realistic assessment of one's own skills, and knowledge of risk situations such as rip currents – remains the surest way to avoid further fatal incidents along the Bulgarian coast.