The bodies of two elderly men who vanished in Lake Constance after jumping into the water from a rental boat in front of their wives were recovered on Friday, as Germany grapples with a spate of deadly swimming accidents during a scorching heatwave.
Divers from the water police recovered the bodies near the site of the accident on Friday afternoon after a search lasting several hours had initially proved unsuccessful.
The men, aged 71 and 76, were on a hire boat with their wives on Thursday afternoon when they jumped into the water around 200 metres from Kirchberg harbour in south-western Germany and went under.
The water police and fire brigade were deployed on Lake Constance, which straddles Germany, Switzerland and Austria, while rescue divers, helicopters, tracking dogs and two sonar devices also took part in the search.
The bodies were eventually located at around 2:30 pm (1230 GMT) on Friday, police said. Investigations into the cause of the accident are continuing.
The deaths come amid a string of fatal swimming accidents during an intense heatwave across Germany.
A 19-year-old man died while swimming in Lake Binningen, near the Swiss border, after apparently underestimating the distance to shore after leaving an air mattress on which he had been sitting with friends.
In separate incidents, a 74-year-old swimmer was found dead in a bathing lake in Heddesheim, while a 23-year-old man drowned in Lake Epplesee near Karlsruhe after failing to resurface while swimming.
An 8-year-old boy was also found dead in a bathing lake in Isernhagen near Hanover after a search lasting around two hours.
According to initial findings, the child had been in the water before disappearing from sight, police said. Authorities confirmed the boy's death later on Friday evening.
