Third drowning in a year at Roskilde gravel pit lakes

A young man drowned in Lynager Sø in Roskilde late Saturday night, marking the third fatality in the area’s former gravel pit lakes within a year.

Police were alerted around 21:00 after the man disappeared while swimming. Emergency crews located his body after several hours of searching, shortly after 01:30 on Sunday.

Last year, a 17-year-old boy died in Himmelsøen, adjacent to the Roskilde Festival site, while swimming with friends. Earlier this year, a student also drowned in the same lake while bathing with a group.

Allan Nyhus, director of SvømDanmark, an organisation working to reduce drowning incidents, warned that former gravel pits pose unique dangers. The lakes can be deceptively deep, with steep drop-offs, unstable bottoms, and poor visibility. Surface water may appear warm, but temperatures just a metre or two below can be near freezing, risking cold shock or cramps.

Nyhus urged Roskilde Municipality and the Danish Nature Agency to improve safety information for swimmers, including considering lifeguard presence and nighttime swimming bans. He added that authorities should evaluate whether swimming should continue in the most hazardous lakes.

Roskilde Mayor Thomas Breddam told DR he was deeply affected by the latest incident and had ordered an immediate safety review of the gravel pit lakes in cooperation with the Nature Agency.

Jens Peter Simonsen, a local forest ranger with the Nature Agency, called the death tragic and confirmed plans to meet with the municipality this Friday to assess further measures beyond the existing rescue buoys.