After the death of a pair of siblings in a slightly frozen reservoir in southern Thuringia, investigations into the exact course of events are underway. A police spokeswoman said on Monday whether the bodies of the 22-year-old and her 13-year-old brother would be autopsied. It has also not yet been decided whether the public prosecutor’s office will take over the further investigations.
Brother and sister probably collapsed on a marginally frozen reservoir last Friday and died. The 22-year-old and the 13-year-old boy were rescued dead by divers from the water reservoir near Westhausen in the Hildburghausen district on Saturday morning, police commissioner Vivien Glagau told the German Press Agency. There had been a breach on the reservoir, which was covered with a thin layer of ice. “It was just a short distance from shore.”
The layer of ice on the lake was only about two to three centimeters thick – not enough to carry the load of two people. It is still unclear when and why the two ran onto the lake. “Whether they wanted to slide ice – we don’t know,” said Glagau.
According to the police, the two had been traveling by car on Friday. They were last seen around 4 p.m.
When the young woman and her brother didn’t answer the phone, the worried parents first went looking for their children themselves. Shortly before midnight, the mother then alerted the police: they had discovered their daughter’s car at the reservoir.
The police and lifeguards then searched for the siblings in large numbers. A police dog was also on duty. Divers finally recovered the woman and the boy on Saturday morning around 8.30 a.m. – both lifeless.
“We assume an accident,” said Glagau. There are currently no signs of third-party debt. The Kripo Suhl leads the further investigations into the accident.
The parents could not initially be questioned in detail. They were cared for by a crisis intervention team. According to the police, the family comes from the Hildburghausen district.
