A 15-year-old boy was pulled out of the water and later died after swimming at a New Jersey beach Sunday afternoon, a National Park Service spokesperson told.
Five other swimmers were rescued after an emergency call at 4:30 p.m. Sunday, Daphne Yun, a park service spokesperson, said.
Sandy Hook’s Beach B at the top tip of the Jersey Shore, located within the Gateway Recreation Area and managed by the National Park Service, is never overseen by a lifeguard, she added.
Of the six, one refused medical attention, two were taken to the Jersey Shore University Medical Center, and three were taken to the Monmouth Medical Center, Yun said.
The 15-year-old, who was among those taken to Monmouth, was declared dead after arrival, Yun said.
The park service and Monmouth Medical Center officials declined to comment on the boy’s cause of death, and the Monmouth County Medical Examiner did not respond to a request for comment at the time of publication.
“There have been drownings there in the past as well,” Yun said. “Not last summer, but maybe the summer before.”
In the CDC’s most recently updated numbers, an estimated 4,012 fatal unintentional drownings happen every year in the United States, including boating incidents, an average of 11 drowning deaths per day.
