Teen swimmer dies after being pulled from waters off Queens beach
QUEENS (WABC) -- A teen swimmer has died after sparking a massive and urgent search by helicopters and drones Friday night when he went missing in the waters off a Queens beach.
The victim, identified as Amadou Thiam, was rushed to Coney Island Hospital after beachgoers spotted his body at Jacob Riis Park.
He was later pronounced dead, according to officials.
The victim was with four other friends cooling off when he got trapped in a heavy rip current on Friday.
They had just called off a search that lasted for hours after the teen disappeared in the heavy rip current in the Rockaways.
Divers raced to the surf after the swimmer washed back near where he had disappeared hours earlier.
It was Dominic Nixon and his friends who spotted the 19-year-old.
"I just kept seeing a little shadow out the water - something," Nixon said.
Harold Miles was there when a group of five teens ran into the water but only four returned.
"They all just ran in - these two brothers were going in, and one was going further than the other and the other was like 'I'm turning around, that's too far for me,' and turned around to go back...and looked for his brother, he was gone," Miles said.
"No matter if you can swim or not, you're not stronger than water," Nixon said.
This is the second swimmer who went missing in two days. On Thursday, a teen went missing in the waters off Coney Island. As of Friday night, he was still missing.
Jacob Riis Park is open daily from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Lifeguards are on duty daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
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