Atlantic City Beach Patrol warn of dangers of swimming at unguarded beaches
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. - Multiple children have been rescued from the water in separate incidents over the past few days in Atlantic City. The beach patrol is warning the public not to swim at unguarded beaches ahead of Memorial Day weekend.
Three children, ages 8, 9 and 11, from Philadelphia became stuck on an outfall pipe as waves continued to crash Tuesday morning. A good Samaritan attempted to rescue them until police arrived.
Officers, along with a lifeguard and a firefighter were able to get everyone safely back to the beach. Just days earlier, police say they got a call that several kids were in distress in the ocean but by the time they got arrived, good Samaritans already rescued them.
In the very same place as Tuesday's rescue near Virginia Avenue, two children from Blackwood, New Jersey, got swept away by riptides Thursday. They were carried nearly two blocks south.
Off-duty lifeguards doing maintenance on the beach patrol building happened to be there and helped bring those boys to safety. One of those little boys is being credited with helping his brother stay above water until help arrived.
"I was trying to help him so we don’t die because I love life. We got swept all the way from here to there ad then I had to push my little brother over there so he wouldn’t drown," Josiah Kendricks said.
Beach officials say warm weather and riptides are the perfect recipe for ocean danger, especially when most shore towns won't have lifeguards on-duty until Memorial Day weekend.
"Stay away from any obstructions and where there are any rocks, jetty’s pipes anywhere there is an obstruction you are going to find riptides," Atlantic City Beach Patrol Chief Steve Downey said.
The AC Beach Patrol will be back on duty on May 29 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
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