Warsaw, Aug 3 (IANS): In July alone, 83 people drowned in open waters in Poland, the Polish state TV station TVP reported on Saturday.

"Most of the victims were men, because men take more risks and do not always use life jackets," TVP reported, citing Maciej Rokus, head of the Polish Special Divers Group which offers maritime search and rescue service.

The Polish Radio also appealed to people to follow basic water safety rules, describing the grim situation as "summer plague". It said that according to police data, 126 drownings were recorded across the country from April 1 to early July, Xinhua news agency reported.

The most drowning cases occurred in the northern Warmian-Masurian and Pomeranian provinces, where people preferred to spend vacations on the Baltic beaches or lakes. However, this problem has also affected the Lubuskie province in eastern Poland recently.

Sulecin police reported on Friday that a 42-year-old man was drowned in a local lake and Lubuskie police reported that a 50-year-old man's body was found in a water reservoir in Szprotawa.