Two die in the ocean off popular North Carolina tourist destination, police say
Two people died in the Atlantic early Sunday off North Carolina’s Crystal Coast, according to police.
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It happened near the 1100 block of Ocean Boulevard West in Holden Beach, which is about a 165-mile drive southeast from downtown Raleigh.
“At 9:45 a.m., Brunswick County Communications received a report of two adult subjects in distress in the ocean,” police said in an Aug. 2 news release.
“Both patients received advanced life support treatment in attempts to resuscitate them, but those efforts were unsuccessful.”
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Identities of the two and a cause of death have not been released.
Most deaths in the ocean off North Carolina are drownings attributed to rip currents, which are narrow channels of fast-moving water that flow away from beaches, experts say.
“Moving at speeds of up to eight feet per second, rip currents can move faster than an Olympic swimmer,” NOAA reports.
“Panicked swimmers often try to counter a rip current by swimming straight back to shore — putting themselves at risk of drowning because of fatigue. Lifeguards rescue tens of thousands of people from rip currents in the U.S. every year.”
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