Two people have drowned in the same Wisconsin lake over the course of the past week, local authorities confirmed.
On Sunday evening, the Western Lakes Fire District reported that they’d received multiple 911 calls about a man who appeared to be in distress at Lac La Belle at approximately 3.44pm.
Multiple people had reportedly attempted to rescue the 35-year-old male, who witnesses describe as having been at the lake swimming with friends off a moored pontoon boat.
“While en route, units were advised multiple people attempted to rescue a male in his 30’s from the water. The male did not resurface,” the Western Lakes Fire District said in a statement shared on their Facebook later that evening.
Dive teams from Mukwonago, Beaver Dam, Waukesha County Sheriff’s Dept. and Washington County Sheriff’s Department arrived to assist after the incident was transitioned from a rescue to recovery.
At approximately 10.58 on Sunday, the body of the 35-year-old, who had yet to be identified by authorities, was recovered.
The man had reportedly dove underwater and was never seen resurfacing at the small Wisconsin lake, located mostly within the town of Oconomowoc which lies about 35 miles west of Milwaukee.
Sunday’s drowning is the second deadly incident to occur at Lac La Belle over the course of the past week.
On Saturday, diving crews recovered the body of a 32-year-old Milwaukee man who had been at the lake on Thursday night swimming with friends. The man was identified as Agean Yang by family members to 12 News.
The Centre for Diseases Control and Prevention estimates that each year, 3,960 people die in fatal unintentional drownings, which works out to being about 11 drowning deaths per day. Nonfatal drownings are more frequent, with the federal agency estimating that, on average, there are about 8,080 incidents of this per year.
