Heat's toll: 3 drown, 1 killed by lightning
Sweltering and storm-prone weekend weather led to several deaths throughout the region, authorities said.
Three people drowned Saturday as a heat wave settled in; a fourth person was killed yesterday afternoon in a lightning strike, as strong thunderstorms moved through Connecticut.
Four other people were hospitalized after the lightning struck a pavilion at Hamonasset Beach State Park in Madison. Dennis Schain of the Department of Environmental Protection said the lightning struck shortly after 5 p.m. near the West Beach parking area.
The names of the victims were not immediately released.
On Saturday in Claremont, N.H., a 16-year-old boy drowned while swimming with friends in the Sugar River. Police said Karl Collise of Claremont went under the water and failed to resurface about 6:30 p.m. Rescuers pulled him from the water but were unable to resuscitate him. Police were trying to determine what caused the accident.
In Connecticut, a 4-year-old boy drowned in a backyard pool in Trumbull and a 56-year-old man died after being swept into the Housatonic River in Kent.
Trumbull police said the boy, who was from Pennsylvania and visiting a home on Old Hollow Road, died shortly before 5 p.m. Saturday. His name was not released.
In Kent, State Police said Rafael Morquecho of Dover Plains, N.Y., was swept into the Housatonic shortly after 8 p.m. Saturday, while trying to save his 17-year-old niece, who had fallen into the river and was being pulled downstream. The niece made it to a small island and was rescued. Morquecho's body was found early yesterday, police said. (AP)
