A 7-year-old boy visiting Florida drowned in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea. Carrington Clarke, 7, had flown into Ft. Lauderdale from the Bahamas to visit family. He went with three adults and eight children to the beach Monday afternoon. Around 3:27 p.m., four of the children — ages 7, 11, 13 and 14 – attempted to swim to a sand bar about 50 yards from shore. An 11-year-old girl made it, but when she turned around, she noticed the other three struggling in the water about halfway between the shoreline and the sand bar. Adults jumped in to rescue the children, but 7-year-old Carrington slipped underwater and the adults lost sight of him. About 10-15 minutes later, the BSO helicopter located him about 100 yards south of where he was last seen. A Lauderdale-by-the-Sea volunteer firefighter on a wave runner and lifeguards pulled him from the water.

American Medical Response (AMR) workers performed CPR and transported Carrington to Holy Cross Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 4:28 p.m. Coincidentally, around the time of the incident, the city had planned a rescue demonstration that was to include a simulated drowning, so residents could witness how an ocean rescue might happen. Because of the demonstration, lifeguards, volunteer firefighters and AMR workers were already on scene. The Broward County Medical Examiner will determine the cause of death.