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FERRY TRAGEDY
A WOMAN and her seven-year-old son have died after plunging 65ft from a Baltic Sea ferry travelling from Sweden to Poland.
Swedish prosecutors have now launched a murder probe into the deaths of the Polish mother and her young son.
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The tragedy occurred on Thursday when the child fell 65ft off the vessel and his mother proceeded to jump overboard in an attempted rescue, authorities said.
A huge search and rescue operation was launched and ships and helicopters from Sweden and Nato units in the area assisted in the rescue.
The pair - both from Poland - were later found and taken by helicopter to Karlskrona hospital in Sweden.
Today, Polish police announced that both had died.
Sweden's Prosecution Authority then announced it has launched a preliminary investigation where the crime classification is murder, but there is no suspect in the case.
"The investigation aims to try to clarify what happened," prosecutor Stina Brindmark said.
Police spokesman Mariusz Ciarka said today: "Unfortunately, in the morning we received information from the Swedish side that we have to pass on this terrible news to the family, because both the boy and the woman are dead."
The Swedish ferry, Stena Spirit, was in the Baltic midway through its journey to Gdynia in Poland from Karlskrona in Sweden when the incident occurred.
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Anders Olsson, who was on the rescue helicopter that pulled the woman from the sea, told Swedish radio that the mother was not responsive and first aid was administered to her.
"First we received a report that one person had fallen overboard, then it turned out to be two," said Lars Blom, chief of rescue operations at the Swedish Maritime Administration rescue centre.
What brought about the horror incident remains unknown.
"At the moment we have no information whether this was due to a malfunction of the ferry," Stena Line spokesperson Agnieszka Zembrzycka told TVN24.
"We are cooperating with the police and other authorities that are appointed to explain the causes and circumstances of this event."
Swedish police have issued an appeal to Polish passengers, asking for any information that could explain how the incident occurred.