Rip current drowns 31-year-old in front of fiancee at New York beach, reports say

A 31-year-old man died after being caught in a rip current at a Montauk beach while swimming with his fiancee and a friend, New York police told news outlets.

East Hampton police officers found Benjamin Kitburi of Montauk unconscious at Ditch Plains Beach about 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 19, WNBC reported.

Kitburi had gone into the surf with his 26-year-old fiancee and a friend only a few minutes earlier when rough seas and a rip current separated them, the East Hampton Star reported.

His fiancee and friend made it back to shore, but three off-duty lifeguards surfing nearby had to rescue Kitburi, 27East reported.

He was taken to a hospital, where he died, the Suffolk Daily Voice reported. His fiancee also was taken to the hospital to be checked.

Chief lifeguard John Ryan told the East Hampton Star that the lifeguards were “shaken up” by the incident.

“They kept asking me last night, did he make it, did he make it? Did he make it?” Ryan told 27East. “It’s such a hard thing. You go through all this training and you prepare yourself, but then reality hits you in the face like this.”

This story was originally published July 21, 2022 at 1:18 PM with the headline "Rip current drowns 31-year-old in front of fiancee at New York beach, reports say."