Overview
- Emergency services recovered the man's body around 12:45 after a multi-hour search of a frozen firefighting pond in Wismar’s Wendorf district.
- A camera found running on the ice was secured, and authorities viewed video showing the jump into an ice hole and the man failing to reappear.
- Rescuers enlarged openings with chainsaws and deployed DLRG divers to search water about 1.7 to 1.75 metres deep beneath ice estimated at 5 to 7 centimetres.
- Police have launched a formal death investigation and say the incident currently appears to be a tragic accident, while reports calling the man an influencer remain unconfirmed.
- DLRG and local officials warned against solo ice-bathing, noting survival in near-freezing water can be as short as minutes and that ice is generally load-bearing only from roughly 10 to 20 centimetres.