Four boats capsize on Lake Seksty during storm, 37 people rescued from water

Capsizing on Lake Seksty

On Thursday, 6 August evening, four sailing boats carrying participants of a youth sailing camp capsized on Lake Seksty in Pisz county, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, during a sudden storm. The State Fire Service reported 37 people on board the boats, including 31 children aged 14 to 18 and 6 supervisors. Some rescue services cited 32 people in the water, while fire services said all 37 ended up in the water. A fifth boat remained upright and was used to pull people from the water. All participants wore life jackets, which rescuers credited with preventing fatalities. One person, a 16-year-old boy with a forearm injury, was transported to hospital in Pisz with a supervisor. Two others were treated on site, and four people sustained minor abrasions.

The group had departed from the Mazurska Służba Ratownicza base in Okartów at approximately 17:00, heading toward Lake Kaczerajno for an overnight stop. Organizers said weather conditions were stable at departure.

Organizers' account

Erwin Winiarek, one of the camp organizers, told TVN24 that nothing indicated a sudden weather change when they left Okartów. Wojciech Dybaś, another organizer, said the group noticed meteorological warnings while sailing past Wyspa Pajęcza on Lake Śniardwy and decided to accelerate. A sudden gust of wind overturned the boats before they could reach shelter.

Looking at the force and direction of the wind, the fastest escape route was toward Lake Seksty. We started fleeing at full power. After that signal, after a few minutes, the boats overturned.

Dybaś said they were about 600 meters, or roughly 20 minutes, from a safe location when the boats overturned. He said organizers called Mazurska Służba Ratownicza, whose crew was already en route by the time the call ended. They also tried contacting Mazurskie Ochotnicze Pogotowie Ratunkowe three times, but no one answered. Local residents from Zdory arrived with their own boat and a jet ski. Organizers said they plan to continue the camp after consultations with parents and children, though the format may change.

Rescue operation

The emergency call reached the MOPR coordination center in Giżycko at 20:21 (one source cites 20:24). The Mazurska Służba Ratownicza boat was first on scene and rescued 11 people. Residents of Zdory rescued 6 more using their own boat and jet ski. MOPR and fire service crews recovered the remaining participants. The operation involved two MOPR boats, two water ambulances from Kamień and Ryn, three medical rescue teams, and police. The rescue was completed by approximately 20:50.

Dariusz Luma, an MOPR dispatcher, described the scene to PAP:

They all had life jackets on and that saved their lives. As a result of the wind gust, four vessels overturned, one of them sank.

Stefan Świderski of Mazurska Służba Ratownicza told TVP Info that apart from minor abrasions, a dislocated shoulder, and a light head injury probably caused by the boom, no one was seriously hurt. He noted that life jackets kept everyone on the water's surface, making rescue possible.

Weather warnings and nationwide impact

IMGW had issued second-degree storm warnings. The Government Security Centre (RCB), IMGW, and TVN24 synopticians had warned about possible storms in the Mazury lake region. Luma said whether the sailors should have departed at all was for police to assess.

We can only assume that maybe they thought they would manage to reach the shore in time. In this whole misfortune, the most important thing is that they were wearing life jackets.

The storms caused 1,240 weather-related incidents across Poland. The warmińsko-mazurskie voivodeship recorded the most at 285, followed by mazowieckie with 251. Over 700 interventions involved removing fallen trees, and approximately 100 involved roof damage. Four people were injured nationwide. Forecasters predicted further storms in southeastern Poland, with rainfall up to 40 liters per square meter and wind gusts up to 90 km/h.