13 students and 2 teachers from a boarding school took a boat out to sea in a storm. They did only have life jackets on and the water was only 2 degrees Celsius. Here were ice left on the water. About a mile out the boat capsided and they had to swim in or stay at the boat.
One female student swam to shore and used her cell-phone to call for help. It took 4 helicopters and a lot of boat to get the 12 bodies recovered. All but the teacher were found and are alive for now although 6 were taken to our finest hospital in Copenhagen where they remain in critical conditions.
15 lives could have been lost. For now we are only talking of one.
They had no radio. They had no survival suits - on lifejackets which guarantee less than 5 minutes of survival under that conditions. The students have no position lights attached to their bodies. They didn't stay near the coast in a type of boat which have no engine or sail. It is in fact kind of large canoe.
I am shocked.
The boarding school houses normal students and students with an alternative sentence (Stay at a normal boarding school and cause no trouble then the charges go away.)
Of course we can thank the rescuers for their effort. How often can you get 4 helicopters within hours to a scene of an accident? Otherwise it could have been a real tragedy.
I feel that the boarding schools are pushing their lock.
1 student had die some years back and there have been 2 additional incidents where students were saved because larger boats just happened to pass by when the accident occured.
We have asked for help so the laws in Denmark can be changed.
Source:
The search is set (Denmarks Radio, February 11, 2011) - (Google translated)