NEW JERSEY – Two people drowned in a New Jersey lake Tuesday night, around the same time a toddler was pulled from a home swimming pool on Long Island, tragic events that remind us of the dangers that lie in wait for children. (and adults) looking to make a splash this summer.
In New Jersey, Morris County officials said EMS personnel were in the Mine Hill Beach parking lot along Green Road after 5 p.m. when a group told them that two people They went into the water and never came out.
Paramedics contacted other first responders in the area and immediately conducted a fruitless search for the missing teens, authorities said.
EMS and police from Wharton, Roxbury and Randolph conducted an extensive search of the lake where the two were last seen, but said it was complicated due to tangled vegetation underwater. After hours of searching, one of the bodies was found.
The second body was recovered shortly after.
Police said early Wednesday that the victims were Hispanic, ages 17 and 22. Their names were not immediately released.
Also overnight, just before 6:30 pm, a 2-year-old boy on Long Island was pulled from a backyard pool in another drowning scare.
Yellow tape blocked off the residential area around Barbara Drive in Centereach when the toddler sank into a home pool. It is unclear how long the boy was in the water.
The boy, whose relatives own the house where the pool is located, was not breathing and was taken to Stony Brook University Hospital. He was said to be in serious condition Wednesday morning, according to an update from Suffolk County police.
The latest drownings and drowning risks come after several similar cases in the tri-state area since last week and the summer season has yet to officially begin. Of the five previous drownings, four of the victims have been teenagers.
About 50 miles west of Centereach, funeral services were held for drowning victim Daniel Persaud. The 13-year-old boy and his friend Ryan Wong were swept off a sandbar Friday afternoon and swept away by strong currents in Jamaica Bay.
Persaud’s devastated parents, relatives and friends released balloons into the evening sky, mourning the young man who died while trying to have early summer fun with his friends.
Also Tuesday, the body of a 59-year-old woman was found after she went missing Monday night when she waded into the water at Island Beach State Park in Ocean County.
Cops say a man told them his wife jumped into the ocean around 8 pm Monday and didn’t come back. Her body was found around 11 am Tuesday. Her identity has not yet been revealed.
In early June, two brothers in New Jersey drowned in a pool during a community swimming event at a school, despite three lifeguards on duty. Brothers Chu Ming Zheng, 19, and Jack Jiang, 16, died after a school official said they were in a separate pool inside a Bayonne school, not the one being watched by lifeguards.
The American Red Cross offers the following advice to both swimmers and those tasked with keeping an eye on those in the water:
- Provide constant supervision for children and non-swimmers.
- Learn to swim: It is unclear if and how well all victims in recent days knew how to swim
- look for lifeguards
- Swim with a friend who stays nearby
- For inexperienced swimmers, wear a life jacket
- Learn CPR
- Some of the advice might not have made a difference for some of the tri-state’s recent drowning victims, but experts hope the advice could help save lives as summer heats up.
Cities and towns across the county fear there may not be enough lifeguards at beaches and pools, as many municipalities have struggled to hire enough lifeguards. COVID lockdowns have also delayed some training courses, but even those who are trained are looking for higher-paying jobs.
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