An eight-year-old boy and a 39-year-old man died after authorities attempted to rescue them off the coast of Cowell Ranch State Beach, near Half Moon Bay in California.
The shocking tragedy occurred just after 3 pm on Sunday. Lifeguards and park rangers initially responded to the emergency.
The Santa Clara County Medical Examiner’s office identified the eight-year-old boy as Vihaan Mukund and the 39-year-old as Mukund Kalyanaraman Murali. They were both from San Jose.
Once they brought the two to a Harbor Patrol vessel, Coastside Fire, the US Coast Guard, Pillar Point Harbor Patrol, and the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office responded to assist the drowning victims.
The boy was then airlifted to a nearby hospital while the man was taken by ambulance. They were pronounced dead at the hospital.
Jorge Moreno, a spokesperson for California State Parks, said in a statement to the press that the two received ‘life-saving efforts.’
‘We extend our deepest sympathy to the family for this devastating loss,’ Moreno added.
Cal Fire Battalion Chief Chip Pickard told local Fox affiliate, KTVU News, that the child got swept up in the harsh currents and the adult went in after him.
‘It was a coordinated effort to rescue them,’ Pickard added.
Multiple authorities responded to assist the drowning victims near Half Moon Bay
Cowell Ranch State Beach is just south of Half Moon Bay
Due to the hazardous currents, a sneaker wave warning was put in place until 7 pm Monday.
Sneaker waves surge inland and are made up of multiple smaller waves. There’s a delayed reaction so beachgoers may not feel the impacts of the waves for at least 10 minutes.
Since they are composed of harsh small waves, the water may not look dangerous from the coast, heightening the danger they pose to beachgoers.
In 2021, a 12-year-old boy was swept off the coast of San Mateo County at Cowell Ranch by a sneaker wave.
Arunay Pruthi was dragged underneath the current while swimming with his 8-year-old brother. Their parents struggled to save them.
Authorities searched the coast of Half Moon Bay but couldn’t find Arunay. His parents Sharmistha and Tarun told KTVU that they didn’t know about the dangers of sneaker waves.
His parents told the San Francisco Chronicle that they were pitching a tent when Arunay and his brother Siddhant went to feel the water. A deceiving sneaker wave pulled them under in a split-second.
Sharmistha and Tarun ran after their sons but got caught in the vicious waves as well. Families on the beach locked arms and were able to bring the parents and Siddhant to shore.
They saw Arunay’s head bobbing above the water as the rip current pulled him further and further from the shore.
A family friend, Sanjeev Kulkarni, also attempted to retrieve Arunay but dislocated his shoulder from the monstrous waves.
An ambulance transported the man to a hospital while the boy was airlifted
Chip Pickard told local news that the adult when in after the boy got swept away by a wave
California beaches can be deceptively dangerous, especially for small children
The family called 911 in distress and a dispatcher sent a Pillar Point Harbor patrol boat to the scene. The Coast Guard mobilized but after two hours authorities urged the Pruthis to go home.
After 17 hours, the Coast Guard called off the search, but his family never gave up. They recruited volunteers and hired helicopters to search for Arunay. They never found his body.
His death marked a deadly span of two months where seven people died off the coast of Cowell Ranch. The death toll included a four-year-old girl and a family of three, the youngest of which was also four years old.
The sneaker waves off the coast of Cowell Ranch have proven to be deadly and hard to predict due to their small size.
