Fire brigade divers from Giżycko have pulled a yacht from the bottom of Lake Niegocin, which had sunk during a July squall. The operation was observed by a court expert, the police reported.
– The operation of recovering the yacht was not easy due to the strong wind – said Iwona Chruścińska, a press officer for the police in Giżycko. She added that for this reason, when the mast of the sunken boat was already sticking out above the surface of the lake, the boat was towed behind the Island of Love and only then was it lifted to the surface in its entirety.
The boat was lifted from the bottom using specialized air bags attached by divers.
– The yacht was towed on a rope to the Ekomarina port in Giżycko – said Chruścińska and added that all activities were observed and documented by a court expert who was appointed to issue an opinion in this case.
Man drowned, woman saved
The yacht, which firefighters pulled out of Lake Niegocin near the Island of Love on Thursday, sank at the end of July when A violent squall passed through the Masurian lakes. A man was sailing on that boat and drowned. The woman who was with him was saved by the Masurian Volunteer Search and Rescue.
The prosecutor's office in Giżycko will determine the causes of the tragedy, but to avoid any doubts, the yacht on which the couple was sailing was needed.
There is another yacht at the bottom of the lake
At the bottom of Niegocin, in a completely different part of the lake, there is another sunken yacht, before which the couple sailed – they both drowned. This boat was located by MOPR rescuer and fishing guide Damian Doda, who notified the police about the boat's location. – The plans are to recover this yacht on Tuesday, but this depends on the expert and his duties – Chruścińska reserved.
On Sunday, July 28, a violent wind of up to 12 degrees on the Beaufort scale swept through the Masurian lakes. On Lake Niegocin, a boat capsized, from which MOPR rescuers managed to save a woman, but her partner died. The boat on which the accident victims were sailing sank – this yacht was the first to be found in the vicinity of the Island of Love.
The day after the storm, a woman's body was found on the eastern shore of the lake, and the next day – a man's. It turned out that they had been sailing on another boat, which also sank.
Lake Niegocin is the third largest lake after Śniardwy and the Mamry complex. It has 2.6 thousand ha. Its bottom is not even – there is a large shallow in the middle, and the greatest depth, reaching 40 meters, is located near the Giżycko port. The average depth of Niegocin is about 10 meters.
Main image source: Gizycko police