Augustas Balsys wrote on Facebook that while walking towards the Palanga pier, he hoped to film beautiful scenes, but soon encountered a painful reality.
He agreed to share the video also with the readers of the Žmonės.lt portal.
“A tragic sunset
Yesterday, I thought I would go to the Palanga pier, see off the sun, and film a beautiful reel. This weekend in Palanga – a record number of people, a crowd of thousands gathering at the main sunset spot. But I could not have guessed that the evening would be nothing like one would want to remember, and my reel would turn out to be far from romantic.
Already near the pier, a gloomy mood greeted me – full of service vehicles, flashing lights, commotion on the shore, lifeguards rushing back and forth. The sea looked tensely calm, slightly wavy. No one cared about the sun peeking from the clouds. People’s gloomy gazes were directed at the lifeguards. Everyone seemed to be waiting for something, whispering that they were searching, that it was hard to find the drowning person in the sea, that the current pulls down.
Later it was revealed that they were searching for a 17-year-old boy from Poland who was swimming with his family and disappeared underwater. As Delfi writes, the family was swimming in a prohibited area, very close to the Palanga pier, where a strong current forms.
At 21:22, lifeguards found the body near the drowning site. Medics confirmed the boy’s death. His brother managed to save himself.
Accidentally being very close, I filmed this event and its tragic outcome.
Let this be a reminder that the sea can be many things. This time it was taking away. Let’s swim safely,” wrote A. Balsys.
Žmonės.lt reminds that on Saturday a huge tragedy occurred near the Palanga pier – a 17-year-old young man from Poland drowned in the Baltic Sea.
Understand instantly
After the tragedy in Palanga – more details revealed: how the 17-year-old drowned near the pier
Palanga shaken by the tragedy of the 17-year-old – a painful letter from Mayor Šarūnas Vaitkus
The General Emergency Centre received a report about a person drowning near the Palanga pier at 20:11. Initially, it was reported about a drowning man and three children, later clarified that they were minors and their father. Palanga lifeguards received the information at 20:13.
Lifeguards rushing to the scene transported one boy to the shore on a jet ski from the pier’s pillars, the father and a girl reached the rocks near the pier on their own. Information obtained from the rescued boy was that his brother immediately submerged underwater and was not visible on the water surface. Palanga lifeguards searched the entire accident area but did not find the young man. Soon, firefighters, medics, and police forces joined, divers were involved in the water search.
Lifeguards said that immediately after the accident, beachgoers formed a human chain by holding hands, trying to wade into the water and find the missing young man.
The young man’s body was found at 21:22, 57 meters from the drowning site, about 3 meters deep, in a hole formed by rocks. Medics who arrived confirmed his death.
