Fatal household accidents on the rise in Switzerland

More and more people are dying in accidents at home or during leisure activities, with suffocations and fatal falls rising sharply in the last decade. Demographic shifts are a main cause of the rising numbers: as the population ages, so does the risk of being fatally injured in such an accident, the Swiss Council for Accident Prevention (BFU) said on Tuesday. According to the BFU, 1,700 people in Switzerland die in falls every year; this number increased by 20 per year over the last decade. The BFU also noted an increase in fatal suffocations, which increased by an average of three per year to reach a current annual total of 135. Overall, the number of fatal accidents at home and in leisure time has risen by an average of 31 annually to a total of 2,100 a year. + Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox The average age of people killed in such accidents is 82. The average age of people killed in traffic or sports accidents is 53. According to the BFU, there has ...