A 19-year-old man visiting the area from California drowned Wednesday morning in Haviland Pond, police said
This is an update to a story that was first posted at 4:49 p.m. Wednesday
LUDLOW - A 19-year-old man visiting the area from California drowned Wednesday morning in Haviland Pond, police said.
The man, whose name was not yet disclosed, was pronounced dead at Baystate Medical Center, said Sgt. Daniel Valadas.
Police and firefighters found him underwater after searching the pond for several minutes. He was unconscious when he was carried to shore and placed on an ambulance.
Valadas said the man was from California who was visiting relatives in West Springfield.
Police were called by lifeguards at the Center Street pond at 10:47 a.m. about a possible drowning.
The guards reported that the 19-year old, who was with two other swimmers, disappeared underwater as he tried to swim from the state boat ramp to a small island in the center of the pond.
He was underwater for several minutes before he was found, police said.
The incident remains under investigation.
As a result of the accident, the Ludlow Board of Selectmen ordered the boat ramp and the adjacent beach at Haviland Pond closed until further notice. The pond is also off limits for swimming. Anyone caught there will be cited by police for trespassing, Valadas said.
The death is the third drowning in recent week involving an outdoor body of water.
Keith Rainville, 45, a homeless man, drowned July 18 while swimming in the Connecticut River.
One week earlier, Carlos S. Torres, 22, of 774 State St., Springfield drowned while swimming in Wilbraham’s Spec Pond.
| California teen drowns at Ludlow's Haviland Pond |