Lifeguard drowns in the water off S. California
10 hours ago
NEWPORT
BEACH, Calif. (AP) — A lifeguard drowned while trying to rescue a
swimmer Sunday off a Southern California beach, authorities said.
Ben
Carlson, 32, was pulled from the water around 6:30 p.m. by fellow
lifeguards following a frantic 90-minute ocean search, Newport Beach
Fire Department Chief Scott Poster said.
Poster
said the 15-year department veteran went into the water to help a
swimmer in distress when they were hit by a 10-foot swell. Carlson went
under water, and the swimmer made it to shore safely.
"It
was just an utter tragedy to lose a man of that caliber in the water
today," the chief said, noting that it was the first time ever that the
city has lost a lifeguard in the line of duty.
The
National Weather Service had issued a coastal hazard warning of
dangerous rip currents and high surf along Southern California beaches.
The weather service said some beaches saw up to 8-feet high surf.
Los
Angeles County firefighters rescued a 25-year-old man who was caught in
the waves off Rancho Palos Verdes and high tide breached a sand berm in
Long Beach.
The lifeguard's death came on the same weekend a swimmer was bitten by a shark off Manhattan Beach.
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