Kazakhstan: 'Death' joins beach safety campaign

"I'm waiting for you, rule-breaker"

Rescuers in Kazakhstan have resorted to using a man dressed as Death to ram home their safety message at a Kazakh city's beach.

The shock tactics have been adopted in response to a sharp increase in the number of drownings at the popular bathing lakes of Ust-Kamenogorsk, with 40 people dying in a hotter-than-usual summer, according to the Kazakh news website Informburo. Frustrated at the apparent failure of traditional safety drives, rescue officials launched a campaign - dubbed "Scream to the rescue" - featuring a scythe-wielding figure in a dark cloak and the iconic mask from the popular Scream horror film franchise. "I'm waiting for you, rule-breaker" reads a banner on the Grim Reaper's rubber dinghy as it floats menacingly out in deeper waters.

Officials blame the rise in drownings on the current heatwave, as well as some bathers' tendency to swim while drunk. "Staff had no choice but to seek new methods to remind citizens of basic safety rules," Anatoly Rozhkov, from Kazakhstan's committee for emergency situations, tells the Zakon website. But some bathers are unconvinced the plan will work. "It's quite something. You're swimming, and suddenly there's Death floating towards you with his scythe," says Galina Valiullina. "That said, you'll never get through to some of the people here," she adds, describing how her beach neighbours ignored the ghostly warning and continued drinking strong spirits before proceeding to dive headfirst into the lake.

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