Fishing with a mate at the local canal the other week, I nearly slipped in. He said I was lucky because loads of people drown in canals despite them often only being ~3-4 ft deep. I said at 6ft tall I'd just stand up.He argued the silt at the bottom is so slippery/deep you can't get traction to stand, which is supposedly why drownings happen. He linked these:https://www.dailypedia.net/2016/01/woman-occupied-phone-falls-drowns-river/Police said the water was only "chest deep" but the "thick sludge" could cause people to "slip and fall in.”And this:https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_1415824Police said the canal was "about chest-deep” but “the silt was very deep" and a person who fell in would "slip and be unable to stand up."Is that actually plausible, or exaggerated?
>>2870099It's less that it's slick and more about being unable to get out. The walls on canals are typically steep and slick. And the silt at the bottom deep. So your feet sink in and you have no way of pulling yourself out. And even if you get to the wall, it's hard to get our without help. I've fallen into one before. The water was about chest deep and the wall was about head high(I'm 6'3") I almost lost both of my shoes between the mud at the bottom and trying to climb out. You couldn't get a grip with your feet on the wall, it just slid down every time I tried to gain purchase. Thankfully there was a lot of tall grass I was able to grab and pull myself out. It was a scarry experience But I probably wouldn't have died unless I just gave up. I've been very cautious around them ever since though.
