POLICE BEAT
Surf cited as 2 men drown on Big Island
Advertiser Staff
Two men died yesterday in separate drownings on the Big Island, according to the Hawai'i County Fire Department.
Rough or above-normal surf was cited in both drownings, one at Punalu'u Beach Park and the other at Keauhou.
The first drowning was reported at 9:11 a.m. at Keauhou, on the Kona side of the Big Island.
When firefighters arrived, they found lifeguards administering CPR to an elderly man who apparently fell victim to above-normal surf heights, fire officials said.
The man was taken to Kona Community Hospital.
At about noon, a man who was snorkeling with his wife off Punalu'u Beach in Pahala drowned, firefighters said.
Fire department rescue crews arrived at the scene and were told by the man's wife that she and her husband were snorkeling and got in trouble in the surf.
She made it to shore but her husband didn't. A local bodyboarder tried to help, but lost sight of the man about 100 yards offshore in rough surf about the time rescue crews arrived, fire officials said.
The body was spotted about 30 yards offshore and brought to the beach by firefighters with the help of bystanders and taken to Ka'u Hospital.
A small-craft advisory was in effect in the area of both drownings yesterday, with wave heights up to 6 feet.
