Swimmer dies after being pulled from ocean at Moss Street Beach in Laguna Beach

A man wearing a wet suit was pulled from the ocean at Moss Street Beach in Laguna Beach and was pronounced dead at a local hospital, Marine Safety officials said Friday, Aug. 31.

Lifeguards were called to the beach at 7:22 a.m. when someone reported that a person appeared to be floating 50 yards offshore, said Laguna Beach Lifeguard Capt. Kai Bond.

“Lifeguards entered the water and he was pulse-less and not breathing,” Bond said.

The man was taken to shore where lifeguards and Laguna Beach Fire Department paramedics began CPR. He was later taken to Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo, where he was pronounced dead, Bond said.

His identity has not been released and is pending notification of next of kin.

The drowning Friday, is the second this year on Laguna Beach city beaches. On April 25, Chiawen Keh, 70, of Irvine, drowned after being swept from the rocks as she and her husband walked along North Victoria Beach around 7:30 p.m. Her body was recovered by Laguna Beach lifeguards later that night.

On July 14,  Brian Riggs, 52, of Aliso Viejo, died in the hospital after lifeguards found him struggling in the water at Thousand Steps Beach in South Laguna. That beach is overseen by the county and patrolled OC Lifeguards.