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1 March 2004
ELSTER – One boy drowned and another was missing in Germany after a car with four boys heading to a chess tournament rolled into the river and was swept away.
Police said two of the boys managed to swim safely to shore, but two others in the car were swept away by the river’s strong current. Divers later recovered the body of a 7-year-old boy, but had not yet located the other missing youth.
The boys, aged 7 to 9, were in a car driven by a 68-year-old man who was taking them to a chess tournament.
The man parked the car at a ferry crossing in Elster at a point on the river about 100 kilometres south of Berlin. While awaiting the arrival of a ferry, the driver briefly left the car.
“We don’t yet know why the car rolled into the river,” said Marcus Bendix, spokesman for the police in nearby Dessau.
About 80 people took part in search operations, which involved divers, boats, fire departments and a helicopter.
DPA
Subject: German news