Tragedy Strikes on Baltic Sea: Mother and Child Pass Away After Ferry Incident

Tragic Incident on the Baltic Sea: Child and Mother Pass Away

A seven-year-old child and their mother, who went overboard from a ferry in the Baltic Sea on Thursday, have sadly passed away. Although they were rescued from the water after an hour, the police have now confirmed their deaths.

Following a dramatic incident on a Baltic Sea ferry between Sweden and Poland, a child and their mother, who fell into the water, have died. "Both the boy and the woman are no longer alive," said the spokesperson for the Polish police to TVN24. In the early morning hours, Swedish authorities informed the family of the tragic news. When the two were pulled out of the water, they were still showing signs of life.

The exact circumstances of the incident remain unclear, with conflicting reports. According to the head of rescue operations at the Swedish Maritime Administration, the seven-year-old went overboard on Thursday, and the mother jumped in afterward.

However, Polish media later reported that both might have gone overboard simultaneously. A spokesperson for the ferry company "Stena Line" told the web portal of the Polish tabloid newspaper "Fakt" that they had secured video surveillance footage that did not confirm the version of a child falling overboard followed by an adult. The Swedish police were searching for passengers who could provide further details about the incident. The Public Prosecutor's Office in Gdansk initiated an investigation.

The mother and child were Polish citizens, according to official information. The ferry, "Stena Spirit," was reportedly halfway between Karlskrona in southern Sweden and Gdansk in Poland at the time. Eyewitnesses reported that the ferry turned around quickly, and a rescue boat was launched.

The search involved rescue helicopters, the ferry itself, and NATO forces that were conducting an exercise in the area. After about an hour, the two were rescued from the water. The German Navy also participated in the rescue operation, as confirmed by a spokesperson from the Ministry of Defense in Berlin. The frigate "Mecklenburg-Vorpommern" with two onboard helicopters was dispatched to the scene of the accident, and one of the helicopters transported a person to a hospital.