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Drunken man drowns after falling into river during barbecue

14 Comments

One man drowned after he and a colleague fell into a river during a barbecue by the Arakawa River in Tokyo's Kita Ward on Wednesday night, police said Thursday.

According to police, the accident happened at approximately 6 p.m. The two men were with about 30 colleagues at a barbecue party and were intoxicated, witnesses said, adding they both fell into the river after wandering near the edge.

One of the pair crawled back onto the riverbank, but the other man, from Nerima Ward and aged in his 30s, disappeared beneath the surface. A rescue squad was called and his body was found four meters underwater. The man, whose name has not yet been released, was already dead when he was pulled from the water, police said.

© News reports

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14 Comments
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Yes folks, it is that time of year again when despite not being able to swim well, the hordes are drawn to water like lemmings are drawn to cliffs. Indeed, the number of people who drown in this country every Summer almost makes "drowning" a seasonal word that could be used in the composing of haiku poems.

Furthermore, I hope everybody is ready for that other great Summer tradition in this country. The one that involves pachinko, small children and automobiles.

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Tim dont forget the rest of the characters that tend to pop out in the heat......summer is always the best time of year.......

Moderator: Readers, please stay on topic.

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Sounds like a good barby though.

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alcohol in causing death shocker. hold the front page

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Sad way to go....booze and water dont mix.

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so what happened to the guy who crawled back on shore ? didn't try to help ? and the other 28 people ? its not that dark at 6pm

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I have to agree with stirfry someone should have tried to save him but you know 30 people is a large party and that water is probably pretty murky so you can imagine the poor guy in his black/grey suit in that water after a few ichibans....sad way to go...

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Must have been some kind of tomfoolery happening at that place. Seems very strange that two people fall into the river at the same time after having a few beers. Water and alcohol just don't mix.

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Not enough information in the news story here, but I'll go out upon a limb here, and say (given experience), that I suspect, the Government is partly to blame here.. the pre-designated Public Barbecue Areas are not generally safe. You've got "Docks" like border to water areas, where people can fall into without being able to get out without having to swim to the nearest wall-bound ladder (and that's assuming its still functional). So by the nature of barbecues, people will be intoxicated (occasionally) and therefore not totally in control of their motions. It's like making all barbecues be at the top of the sheerest cliff-face in Japan with no fence.... bet the insurance companies would then argue that it was suicide rather than accidental death....

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Betting, I must have missed the part in the article about them only "having a few beers". The article I read said they were "intoxicated". Unless the guy had a medical condition, then he had more than just a few beers.

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mmwk2008 I don't think it's the government's fault. I think it's the drunken men's fault. Just one was luckier than the other. It's time people be responsible for their own actions despite being drunk or not. As drunk as I've been before I still can sense danger, just a little slow to react to it. Now if I were so tired and drunk as to passing out I think I'd be sleeping on the grass rather than walking by the river. Let's not lie blame where there is none.

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replace drunken guy with 18month old kid playing at barbecue... running around and falling off edge into water below...

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That would be the parents fault for lack of supervision not the government's. Your reasoning is taking away responsibility for oneself or ones young offspring. You can't blame everything on "the government".

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I can agree with some of the stuff that some of you people are saying.. but lets not forget that it was a lost of a human life... and one who was a good friend of a friend. Have a little bit of empathy.

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