A young man drowns in a Venice canal. This morning, a 20-year-old man died after falling into a canal in the San Polo district of Venice. Two companions of the same age also entered the water but were rescued by a passing vessel.
Emergency services received the call at 5.30 in the morning, reporting that three people had fallen into the water in the lagoon at San Polo 2640. A passing boat pulled two members of the group to safety, but the third, a 20-year-old, failed to resurface.
Two lagoon fire engines from the Venice Dorsoduro branch attended the scene, supported by divers from the regional specialist unit. At approximately 7.15 a.m., the divers located and recovered the young man’s body from the waters beside the Guardia di Finanza barracks at Campo San Polo. Carabinieri and emergency medical personnel from Suem 118 were also present at the scene.
Local reports indicate that the three young men were foreign nationals. The exact circumstances in which they entered the water remain unclear and are under investigation by the military personnel who attended the scene.
A recurring hazard
The tragedy is the latest in a pattern of fatal incidents involving canals in Venice, where unguarded waterways run through densely populated historic districts. There are also the unfortunate instances of people choosing to swim in the canals, which is illegal.
The city’s network of rii, the smaller internal canals that thread through each sestiere, presents particular dangers in the hours after midnight, when low lighting and narrow towpaths increase the risk of accidental falls. The San Polo district, one of Venice’s oldest and most compact neighbourhoods, has several such waterways with limited protective barriers.
The investigation into the precise cause of how the man drowns in the Venice canal is ongoing.
