A tragic incident occurred on the afternoon of Wednesday, August 5, in the sea off Klotzani beach in Malia, Crete, when a 42-year-old Dutch woman drowned. Initial reports indicated she had fallen from an inflatable boat she had rented along with a 43-year-old friend, with three minors on board — aged three, eight, and fifteen. However, new information has revised those early details. According to neakriti.gr, which originally reported the victim’s age as 40, the 43-year-old woman and the children — all wearing life jackets — were swimming in the sea. The children managed to climb back onto the boat, but the woman was swept away by the waves and called out for help. The 42-year-old reportedly didn’t hesitate for a second and jumped in to help, but swallowed seawater and lost consciousness. The 43-year-old is said to have reached her after some time and held her on her back, waiting for help to arrive. The children were also waving their arms desperately, calling for assistance. A report by Alpha TV confirmed that the woman had drowned. She was the mother of the three-year-old child, who was expected to return to the Netherlands with the victim’s 21-year-old sister, who had arrived on the island.
Malia: “They were very far from the shore”
The Alpha TV report included eyewitness accounts. It is worth noting that the type of inflatable boat involved does not require a license to operate. “I saw the little children waving their hands and calling for help,” recounted Genadios, a parasailing boat operator who was the first to reach the boat carrying the three children, as reported by Alpha. The vessel was adrift approximately 500 meters from shore, with the children in a state of panic, screaming for help. “The children told us that their mother was a little further from the boat,” he added. An emergency alarm was raised on the beach for the rescue of both women. “I left on my jet ski, alerted the lifeguard, and they departed from there on another jet ski. The woman was holding the other woman afloat — she was unconscious. The lifeguard dived in and we tried to get the woman onto the jet ski,” said Mr. Prinaris, owner of a water sports business.
Lifeguards and a doctor went above and beyond in their efforts to save the woman’s life. Lifeguard Mr. Choutsishvili stated that five people performed CPR on the 42-year-old for 15 continuous minutes: “We didn’t have a visual on the boat — it was too far out, we couldn’t even see it with binoculars. The water sports team spotted her and arrived with two jet skis to tow the victim in. We were notified via radio. As soon as they got close to shore, we immediately dived in, pulled the woman out, and five of us started CPR right away — two lifeguards, two water sports workers, and a doctor who happened to be a customer. At least 15 minutes of CPR — the victim had no pulse, but we kept going, hoping to pull through. We had also called for an ambulance. From the very first moment she was unconscious. The ambulance arrived, they attempted further CPR, and we then placed the victim on a board and transferred her to the ambulance. There was panic everywhere. People had gathered around us, watching and waiting to see what would happen.” “The two women were very far from the shore. Fortunately, we did not lose any more lives,” said lifeguard Mr. Koxarakis.
A Coast Guard vessel arrived at the scene and retrieved the inflatable boat carrying the three children and the 43-year-old Dutch woman, who had survived. “The other woman was in a devastating state. When I told her the woman had not survived, she broke down in tears. The children were in a terrible state — screaming, crying. When we approached to see what was happening, they were in complete panic. When they learned the woman had not survived, it was an extremely difficult situation,” commented Mr. Prinaris.
