POLIHALE — A 48-year-old Lihu’e man apparently drowned yesterday afternoon after he got in trouble while swimming in rough surf and strong currents with friends off Polihale Beach. Following the incident, reported at 2:29 p.m., the man was transported in
POLIHALE — A 48-year-old Lihu’e man apparently drowned yesterday afternoon
after he got in trouble while swimming in rough surf and strong currents with
friends off Polihale Beach.
Following the incident, reported at 2:29 p.m.,
the man was transported in critical condition by ambulance to the Kaua’i
Veterans Memorial Hospital, said Kaua’i Fire Department Battalion Chief Danny
Smith. The man was subsequently pronounced dead at the hospital.
The man’s
name was withheld pending notification of the incident to family members.
The man had lived on a boat in Nawiliwili harbor.
The man was swimming
with his girlfriend and two friends in 3-to-5-foot waves when he got in
trouble.
Some surfers brought him back to shore, where other beachgoers
tried to revive him.
Firefighters and rescue personnel with the Kaua’i
Fire Department and the Pacific Missile Range Facility and paramedics arrived
on the scene around 3 p.m. and treated the man before he was transported to
KVMH.
If an autopsy confirms the victim died from drowning, it would be the
13th drowning this year.
