California Man Dies, Found Unresponsive While Swimming off Lāna‘i

Lānaʻi, file photo by Wendy Osher.

A 61-year-old visitor from Escondido, California, was pulled unresponsive from waters off of Lānaʻi on Tuesday afternoon.

The incident was reported at 12:28 p.m. on Tuesday, May 22, 2018. The man had been swimming at Hulopoʻe Beach as part of a tour group from Maui that was visiting the island.

Officials from the Maui Fire Department say someone swimming nearby noticed the man was floating unresponsive and pulled him to shore where bystanders began performing CPR. Firefighters arrived on scene at 12:42 p.m. and found bystanders on the beach performing CPR on a male victim. Firefighters took over lifesaving efforts until paramedics arrived a short time later.

Despite all life saving efforts, the man could not be revived and died at the scene.

This was the 19th water related fatality in Maui County waters this year.  Eighteen incidents occurred in the ocean and one in a freshwater stream.