Amid yellow-flag surf conditions on Tuesday evening, a 31-year-old Montauk man drowned at Montauk’s Ditch Plain Beach.
Benjamin Z. Kitburi was already unconscious when he was pulled from the water shortly after 7:30 p.m. by three nearby surfers, according to the East Hampton Town Police. His fiancee, Persia Jensen, 26, and a friend, Jensen Turner, 32, who also live in Montauk, were able to “swim back to shore and exit the water before collapsing,” police said.
Mr. Kitburi, Ms. Jensen, and Ms. Turner had been swimming for only a few minutes before they were “quickly pulled to deeper water and separated by rough conditions and a strong rip current,” police said. The good Samaritan surfers called 911 and performed CPR on Mr. Kitburi.
John Ryan Jr., head of East Hampton Town’s beach lifeguarding program, confirmed Wednesday that the three surfers who helped the distressed swimmers are town lifeguards who were off duty.
The Montauk Fire Department’s ambulance squad took Mr. Kitburi to Stony Brook Southampton Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Ms. Jensen was also taken to the hospital for evaluation, while another medical crew evaluated Ms. Turner at the beach.
Mr. Ryan also confirmed that the drowning happened “after hours.” Town lifeguards are generally on duty between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. at Ditch Plain and several other ocean beaches, and between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. at bay beaches.
“It’s tough,” Mr. Ryan said. “All three guards are pretty shaken up. They are guarding and saving lives — it’s part of the job, but not something you expect to have to do.”
Mr. Kitburi’s death was the second drowning on the South Fork in the span of one week. On July 14, Jhon Escorcia, a 22-year-old Costa Rican immigrant, jumped into the Shinnecock Canal for a middle-of-the-night swim after leaving the Dream nightclub; his body was recovered two days later.
This story been updated since it was first published.
