Warm weather has persisted for several days. Not many are aware that under such conditions, ice strength decreases, and if water appears on its surface, its load-bearing capacity is reduced by 2-3 times. Strong ice is blue in colour; if the colour is white, it can bear half the weight. When ice has a grey or yellowish hue, it is very unreliable and extremely dangerous to venture onto.
Over the past weekend, three people drowned in the Vitebsk region. On March 7th, in the Verkhnedvinsk district, four people fell through the ice; two managed to get out on their own, while two drowned. On March 8th, the rescue service of the Braslav District Department for Emergency Situations received a report from an eyewitness about a person drowning in the Druyka River. During a search of the river mouth area along the shoreline, the diving and rescue service, together with employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, discovered the body of a drowned man. In 2014, during the same period, 13 people died in the region's bodies of water.
By the Order of the Lepel District Executive Committee dated March 11, 2015, No. 61r, in order to prevent accidents on bodies of water due to unstable ice cover, citizens are prohibited from going onto the bodies of water in the Lepel district.