Accident More and more people in Switzerland are suffocating or suffering fatal falls

More and more people are dying in accidents at home or during leisure activities. The number of suffocations and fatal falls in particular has risen sharply in the last ten years, as the Swiss Council for Accident Prevention (BFU) announced on Tuesday.

According to the BFU, 1700 people in Switzerland die in falls every year. In the last ten years, the number of fatal fall accidents has increased by 20 per year. The BFU also recorded an increase in choking accidents, with an average of three deaths per year to 135 today. In general, the number of fatal accidents at home and during leisure time has risen by an average of 31 people per year to around 2100 over the last ten years.

According to the BFU, this is due to demographic change. There are more and more old people. And with increasing age, the risk of being fatally injured in an accident increases.

The average age of people killed at home and during leisure activities is 82. The average age of people killed in road traffic and sports accidents is 53.

14 children killed per year

According to the BFU, there has been no change in the number of children killed in accidents over the last ten years. Every year, 14 children die in accidents at home and during leisure time, half of which are infants and toddlers. Children are particularly at risk of fatal injury from suffocation, drowning and falls from a height

According to the BFU, one of the greatest dangers that many parents are not sufficiently aware of is accidental drowning. Only a fifth of parents or caregivers are aware that small children usually drown silently and without any signs.