7 swimmers rescued from dangerous rip currents; 2 dead

Credit: Pixabay

Credit: Pixabay

Two people are dead after rip currents forced several rescues at a New Hampshire beach.

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Seven swimmers were pulled from the water at Seabrook Beach, near 131 Ocean Drive, just after 12:30 p.m. Sunday. Seabrook Police said two of the people were unconscious when they were brought to shore.

The beach does not have lifeguards, but lifeguards from nearby Hampton Beach helped pull a man from the water around 12:59 p.m. He was transported to the hospital where he later died. New Hampshire State Police have not released his identity, but said the victim is a 49-year-old Methuen man.

"They were probably three-quarters of a mile out from what I could see," Rich Ferrara said. "Pretty intense."

A 47-year-old woman was transported to the Seabrook Emergency Room and was pronounced dead Monday morning. Officials said the two were married.

"I've never seen anything like that, where so many people were in trouble," Ferrara said

Seabrook Police said an officer helped several of the people to shore before helping in the search for the last person, who was unaccounted for at the time.

"One of the police arrived and stripped down, took off his gun belt," Ferrara said. "He dove into the water and started swimming out because there were people screaming that there were girls missing."

The officer was one of the first to jump in, helping to bring everyone involved to shore.

"He pulled a woman in, she wasn't breathing when he finally got her in," Linda Farrell said.

The Seabrook Fire Department, along with Seabrook Beach Patrol were the main responding agencies in the incident.

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