14-year-old dies after he’s swept away in rip current at Florida beach, officials say
A 14-year-old boy drowned at a popular Florida beach after he was swept into a rip current while swimming with his friends, officials said.
The teen, who was from Altamonte Springs, was swimming with three friends around 7:30 p.m. July 7 near the Hard Rock Hotel at Daytona Beach, Spectrum News reported. His friends lost sight of him as they swam back to shore.
“They turned around and saw a small struggle with the fourth teenager and then they couldn’t see him any longer,” Volusia County Beach Safety Ocean Rescue Deputy Chief Tammy Malphurs told WESH.
Rescue skis, drones and rescue swimmers were included in the search that followed, according to WFTV. Officials searched until 9 p.m. before calling it off due to low visibility, the news outlet reported.
About 30 minutes later, several bystanders noticed the teen boy, who was taken to the hospital and pronounced dead, according to WFTV.
“These people just happened to be walking the beach and saw him in about 1 to 2 (feet) of water,” Malphurs told WESH.
The Volusia County Beach Safety confirmed the boy was swept into a rip current, according to Spectrum News.
Rip currents are “powerful, narrow channels of fast-moving water,” according to the National Ocean Service. The most important thing to do is not panic in a rip current.
“The best way to escape a rip current is by swimming parallel to the shore instead of towards it, since most rip currents are less than 80 feet wide,” the NOS recommends on its website.
Daytona Beach is about 56 miles northeast of Orlando.
This story was originally published July 8, 2022 at 7:09 PM with the headline "14-year-old dies after he’s swept away in rip current at Florida beach, officials say."
