Boy, 7, killed falling from passenger ferry and mum also dies jumping into sea in desperate bid to save him | The Sun
June 30, 2023A YOUNG boy has died after he fell overboard off a passenger ferry in the Baltic Sea.
His mother also perished while desperately trying to save her seven-year-old son as the ferry travelled from Sweden to Poland.
The tragedy occurred on Thursday when the child fell off the vessel and his mother proceeded to jump overboard in an attempted rescue, authorities said.
A huge search and rescue operation was launched and ships and helicopters from Sweden and Nato units in the area assisted in the rescue.
The pair – both from Poland – were later found, winched to a helicopter and taken to Karlskrona hospital in Sweden.
Anders Olsson, who was on the rescue helicopter that pulled the woman from the sea, told Swedish radio today that the mother was not responsive and first aid was administered to her.
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"First we received a report that one person had fallen overboard, then it turned out to be two," said Lars Blom, chief of rescue operations at the Swedish Maritime Administration rescue centre.
Today, Polish police announced that both had died.
"Unfortunately, in the morning we received information from the Swedish side that we have to pass on this terrible news to the family, because both the boy and the woman are dead," said police spokesman Mariusz Ciarka.
The Swedish ferry, Stena Spirit, was in the Baltic midway through its journey to Gdynia in Poland from Karlskrona in Sweden when the incident occurred.
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What brought about the incident remains unknown.
"At the moment we have no information whether this was due to a malfunction of the ferry," Stena Line spokesperson Agnieszka Zembrzycka told TVN24.
"We are cooperating with the police and other authorities that are appointed to explain the causes and circumstances of this event."
Swedish police have issued an appeal to Polish passengers, asking for any information that could explain how the incident occurred.
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