Sign up for the Today newsletter
Get everything you need to know to start your day, delivered right to your inbox every morning.
Summer camp employee drowns in Western Mass. lake
Miguel Rodriguez Perez, 21, was a Mexican national who worked in the kitchen at Camp Kimama Halfmoon in Monterey.
A Mexican man died after drowning in Monterey Sunday while swimming in the lake at the Western Massachusetts summer camp where he worked, authorities said.
Camp Kimama Halfmoon kitchen worker Miguel Rodriguez Perez, 21, joined two of his coworkers for a swim in the camp’s swimming area on Lake Buel, the Berkshire County District Attorney’s Office said. Rodriguez Perez slipped below the surface about halfway between the dock and an inflatable water structure — a distance of about 20 to 25 feet, the DA’s office added.
The two men swimming with Rodriguez Perez were unable to locate him in the water, which was 6 to 8 feet deep, and a search effort ensued with help from others who were out on the lake at the time. Rodriguez Perez was found approximately 10 to 20 minutes later, submerged underneath the camp’s dock ladder, according to the DA’s office.
Advertisement:
CPR was initiated immediately after Rodriguez Perez was pulled from the water, and first responders arrived at the scene soon after, authorities said. Emergency crews rushed Rodriguez Perez to Fairview Hospital, and he was later transferred to Hartford Hospital via a medical flight.
Rodriguez Perez was pronounced dead early Monday morning, and the Connecticut Office of the Chief Medical Examiner has taken jurisdiction of the case. Massachusetts State Police detectives in the DA’s office have been in touch with the Consulate General of Mexico in Boston.
“We are devastated by Miguel’s passing and are thinking of his family and friends at this difficult time,” Camp Kimama Halfmoon Director Yael Skikne said in a statement.
Advertisement:
The coed summer camp, which operates as both a sleepaway and day camp, finished its second session Sunday, according to its website. In a letter to Lake Buel neighbors, Skikne explained there were no campers onsite when Rodriguez Perez drowned.
“While many details about the incident are still being confirmed, it appears that a few support staff members including Miguel, on a day off, entered the lake while it was closed, with no lifeguards on duty, as the camp session had ended,” she wrote.
When camp is in session, campers and counselors wear life jackets and maintain “an approved lifeguard-to-camper ratio that ensures attentive supervision at all times,” Skikne added. She said the camp will refrain from further comment due to the ongoing investigation into Rodriguez Perez’s drowning and out of respect for his family’s privacy.
“However, all of us at Camp Halfmoon would like to express our deepest gratitude to our Lake Buel neighbors as well as the first responders from the local police and fire departments who responded so swiftly [Sunday],” Skikne said in her statement.
