KEKAHA KAI — One person is dead and another is being treated at a hospital after the two were caught in a riptide Tuesday afternoon at Makalawena Beach in Kona, Hawaii Fire Department officials confirmed.
KEKAHA KAI — One person is dead and another is being treated at a hospital after the two were caught in a riptide Tuesday afternoon at Makalawena Beach in Kona, Hawaii Fire Department officials confirmed.
About 3 p.m., dispatch received a report of three distressed swimmers at the beach, one of which reportedly was unable to swim. It was later determined only two swimmers were involved in the incident.
Fire Department Capt. Sean Sommers said by the time emergency crews arrived at the beach, two men had been pulled out of the water and a bystander already began CPR on one of the swimmers.
Hawaii Police Department Maj. Robert Wagner said the victim was a tourist who reportedly swam out to retrieve a football and “subsequently drowned” and that the water wasn’t safe because of weather conditions.
Sommers said rescue crews continued CPR on the swimmer but were unable to resuscitate him.
Because of the rough road to the beach, Sommers said Chopper 2 was flown out to assist with transporting patients and personnel from the beach to a parking area off Queen Kaahumanu Highway. The second swimmer was brought out by helicopter and taken to Kona Community Hospital by ambulance for treatment.
The official cause of the man’s death will be determined.
Email Tiffany DeMasters at tdemasters@westhawaiitoday.com.
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