A father tried to save his 17-year-old son after the teen was swept away from the shore at a popular New Hampshire beach, but despite his efforts, the teenager drowned.
The incident happened on the evening of Sunday, Aug. 24, while the family was swimming at Hampton Beach, according to the New Hampshire State Police Marine Patrol. Officials said a strong ocean current pulled the teen into deeper water.
The boy’s father entered the Atlantic Ocean in an attempt to rescue him but soon became “distressed” as well.
Although lifeguards were off-duty at the time, they were quickly called back to the beach. Both father and son, who have not been publicly identified, were brought to shore, treated at the scene, and transported to a nearby hospital.
The New Hampshire Department of Safety confirmed that the 17-year-old was pronounced dead, while his father survived and was released later that night.
An investigation into the teen’s death is ongoing. The state coroner’s office did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
Just one week earlier, more than 140 people had been rescued from rough waters at Hampton Beach over six days, WMUR reported. The conditions were caused by three-to-five-foot surf linked to Tropical Depression Dexter, which triggered dangerous rip currents.
“You could be at waist, chest deep in the water, perfectly fine,” Patrick Murphy, chief of the New Hampshire State Beach Patrol, told the outlet. But when a set of waves comes in, “it kicks up the sand, it removes that sand out in it, creates a channel in that area, in that sand where you’re standing and swimming, [and] flows out to sea.”
The New Hampshire State Beach Patrol has reported some days with as many as 60 rescues, but more than 140 in a single week is unusual, officials said.
Authorities advise that if someone becomes caught in a rip current, the safest response is to stay calm, keep above water, and swim parallel to the shore instead of directly back.
