Thursday, June 26, 2014

Man celebrating graduation goes missing in NYC river after swim


A 21-year-old man disappeared after he and four pals — celebrating their college graduation — decided to take a dip early Thursday in the East River in Brooklyn, cops said.


The group of friends went into the water from a pier near North 1st Street in Williamsburg at about 5:30 a.m., but only four made it back to shore, police said.


A witness said he saw the group of pals jumping off the pier having a good time.


“I was out here and I saw four or five kids jumping in the water having fun. They were swimming over to the broken pier and jumping off. They looked like they were having a good time,” Manuel Aguila, 30, said


The victim was swept away by the strong current under the Williamsburg Bridge, cops said.


“When I came back the kids were screaming help at the NYPD raft that was passing by. One of the kids was on the phone with 911, I heard him saying ‘he went under,’ ” Aguila added.


The NYPD’s Harbor Unit was searching the waters for the missing person but due to weather conditions the search was put on hold, according to police.


The search will resume once weather conditions improve, cops said.


“I feel bad, he’s a young kid. The kids were panicking. I think one of them was related because he was really distraught and I heard them saying that’s his brother,” Aguila explained.


Last week two 13-year-old cousins drowned when they jumped into the Bronx River.





Yahoo Local News – New York Post




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