Local News
Officials advise swimmers avoid the sandbar, where fast and forceful currents develop.
Warning signs at Conimicut Point Beach. Amanda Milkovits/The Boston Globe
A child drowned at Conimicut Point Beach in Warwick, Rhode Island on Friday, authorities said, marking the beach’s fourth drowning in the past five years.
Warwick Mayor Frank Picozzi confirmed in a Facebook post Friday that the victim was a child.
Police are continuing to investigate the incident and will release additional information once the investigation is complete, Picozzi said.
Officers and firefighters responded to the beach around 4:16 p.m. after receiving a report of a juvenile who had been pulled from the water unresponsive, the Boston Globe reported.
The child’s parent and a bystander initiated CPR before the juvenile was transported to Hasbro Children’s Hospital, the Warwick Police Department told the Globe.
“Now is not the time to place blame or criticism,” Picozzi said. “Let’s just pray for the family.”
Picozzi also noted that Friday’s drowning “didn’t occur on or even near the sandbar,” a section of the beach long associated with dangerous water conditions.
Officials previously warned that fast and forceful currents develop at the sandbar, where large volumes of water moving through a narrow channel pulls swimmers into dangerous conditions.
Conimicut Point Beach has been the site of several drownings in recent years.
In June 2021, a 10-year-old girl, Yoskarly Martinez, and a bystander who tried to help her, Valentin Cardona Sanchez, 35, drowned.
In July 2023, Nicolette Biber, 28, of East Greenwich, drowned while swimming near the sandbar, according to lawsuits filed by the her parents against the City of Warwick. The suit alleges city officials were aware of hazardous conditions at the beach but failed to adequately protect visitors.
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