A 6-year-old Brooklyn girl died in an apparent drowning after a powerful current swept her away at a Southampton beach during a family getaway.
Kiara Paolasin was discovered unresponsive in the waters of Great Peconic Bay after entering the water shortly after 8 a.m. Saturday, Southampton Town Police told The Southampton Press.
Witnesses told the outlet that the child had walked into the water before falling in and being carried by the current from Sebonac Creek into Great Peconic Bay.
A 16-year-old family member tried to reach Paolasin and bring her to safety, but the strong current made the rescue attempt impossible.
Other relatives alerted a nearby kayaker, who paddled to the girl, pulled her from the water while she was unresponsive, and rowed back to shore, where emergency responders were waiting.
Paolasin was taken to Stony Brook Southampton Hospital, where she was later pronounced dead.
Her grieving family had been vacationing in the upscale Long Island community when the tragedy unfolded.
Southampton Town Police are continuing to investigate the suspected drowning.
An official cause of death hasn’t been released by the Suffolk County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Thousands of New Yorkers had flocked to the Hamptons to enjoy the Fourth of July weekend at the various beaches the East End has to offer.
The temperature reached 92 degrees in Southampton on Saturday.
The area had been under extreme heat alerts from a heat wave that has scorched the New York metro region and Long Island.
