RECENT BEACH TRAGEDIES
What better time to spend a Summer day basking on the beach than the last weekend in July?
While getting outdoors is one of Summer’s greatest advantages, the beach can be a dangerous place to venture from natural disasters to tragic instances. This Trending News Monday, let’s take a look at three stories involving the beach this weekend.
Lightning Strikes Venice Beach
Yesterday, a slightly overcast day turned tragic when lightning struck Venice Beach in Los Angeles, California.
The lightning bolt injured 13 beachgoers and killed one swimmer. According to CNN, authorities were not clear if the electrocution, drowning or trampling killed 20-year-old Nick Fagnano. All of those injured were either in or near the water when the lightning hit.
Although yesterday’s storm is rare for Los Angeles (especially because it came with little warning), authorities stress that beachgoers vacate the water and seek shelter at any sign of lightning.
For more information on the lightning strike, click here.
Plane Hits Father and Daughter on Sarasota Beach
While 36-year-old Ommy Irizarry and his 9-year-old daugther, Oceana, walked along a Sarasota, Florida beach, a distressed plane making an emergency landing tragically struck them. Ommy Irizarry, an Army Sargent, was pronounced dead at the scene while his daughter was taken to the hospital in critical condition.
Both the pilot, Karl Kokomoor, and his passenger, David Theen, were unharmed.
According to CNN, both the National Transportation Safety Board and the FAA are investigating the incident.
For more information of the crash, click here.
Man Buried Alive While Digging Hole
Although it’s not the first time to happen this summer, last Monday night a 26-year-old man died while digging a hole during a trip to the beach. Adam Jay Pye had been digging a hole/tunnel at Francis Beach in Half Moon Bay, California when the hole collapsed on him, trapping him beneath the sand.
While fellow beachgoers and emergency responders tried to rescue Pye, he was buried under the sand for 35 minutes. By that time they were able to pull him from the hole, Pye had already suffocated and was pronounced dead on the beach.
Pye’s death is a tragic reminder that sand is a threat with which beachgoers must practice caution. Officials in Half Moon Bay call sand a “hidden danger” and urge beachgoers to avoid digging holes that are too deep.
For more information on the accident, click here.
Cover Photo Source: Nickolay Stanev
