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2 Die In Kayak & Paddle Board Excursion On Long Island Sound
By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Jun 14, 2016
Modified Jun 14, 2016
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By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Jun 14, 2016
Modified Jun 14, 2016
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Two people died and two more, including an 8-year-old girl, were injured on a windy kayak/paddle board excursion in the Long Island Sound on Sunday.
The Times reports that Abdias Ventura, 30, and Ferdinand Lagos, 39, went out into the water off the coast of Hammonasset Beach State Park in Connecticut at around 6 p.m. on Sunday, along with Ventura's girlfriend Damaris Reynoso and her young daughter Delfina. Reynoso, Delfina and Ventura were in a kayak while Lagos was on a paddle board. Soon after getting out in the water, "they get caught up in the tide and the wind, and they start getting drawn out," police told the paper. “They are paddling furiously and can’t get back into Connecticut."
Though all four were wearing lifejackets, the choppy waters were still too much for them. Lagos apparently tried to swim ashore, and his body was found on Monday afternoon. Ventura, who hung onto the kayak until around midnight, got swept away, and his body was found on a private beach about a quarter mile west of Mulford Point. Reynoso and Delfina were found alive at around 4 a.m. at Mulford Point. They were taken to Eastern Long Island Hospital and treated for hypothermia.
Coast Guard Lt. Matthew Richards told the Associated Press the group got blown 14 miles across the Sound. "They were just doing a day trip around Hammonasset," he said. "But they were overcome by the gale-force winds. At one point it capsized the kayak."
Rescuers are also looking for a paddle boarder who had been boarding near Ocean Boulevard off Atlantic Beach on Long Island's south shore over the weekend. The boarder, 41-year-old Gary Turkel, hails from the Upper West Side; he was reported missing on Sunday at around 6:15 p.m., and a lifeguard told the Coast Guard they saw him paddle boarding without a life jacket earlier in the day.
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long island sound
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Rebecca Fishbein
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