Fire, Drowning Deaths Continue to Mount
Although fire-related deaths in Estonia reached a low in 2012 and 2013, this year's count is well above the new normal, even before a twin fatality in rural east central Estonia over the weekend claimed the life of a man and child.
The country had its 26th and 27th fire-related deaths on Saturday night. The fatalities make it six more than during the same period a year ago.
The fire, thought to have started from a cigarette, killed a eight-year-old boy and a middle-aged man in Jõgeva County. Firefighters were alerted to the fire, in a two-story house, at 00:45 early Sunday.
According to uudised.err.ee, rescue workers and locals said the man could have been intoxicated by alcohol and fallen asleep while smoking.
Drowning deaths are also high - generally there are under 10 in the first five months of the year. The number this year was 21, partly attributable to an uptick in swimming during a heat wave in late April, with two more deaths added in the first nine days of June, with a body fished out of the Emajõgi in Tartu, it was reported this morning.