MIAMI BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - Crews are searching for a missing swimmer who was last seen near Miami Beach.
Police said the good Samaritan who tried to save the swimmer has died.
The missing swimmer is the father of an 11-year-old child, who crews also rescued.
Cameras rolled on a dramatic race to the rescue after a day at the beach took a tragic turn.
“Bobbing up and down, bobbing up and down and then he just went down,” said Phyllis Daniels, who was visiting from St. Louis.
Witnesses captured video from the shore as the frantic search began.
Moments later, another witness recorded a man in his 50’s being pulled from the ocean, unresponsive and rushed to Mount Sinai.
“His stomach was enlarged from the water and his face was really dark,” said Janice Clark, who is also visiting from St. Louis.
Back on the beach, crews continued looking for another swimmer somewhere underwater.
7SkyForce HD hovered over the water, Wednesday evening.
Police said they got the call just before 6 p.m., reporting several swimmers in distress near 54th Street and Collins Avenue.
Police said, thanks to a good Samaritan, two made it back to shore safely, while two men remained stuck in the surf.
After several minutes underwater, lifeguards were able to get one man out but the other, a 43-year-old man wearing blue swim trunks, was unaccounted for.
Eventually, the Coast Guard took over.
“I’ve never seen anything like this in my life,” Daniels said.
Crews were working well after sundown to locate that missing swimmer, while many visitors on the beach left watching in disbelief.
“If it was your family member? Not much you can do. You’re just standing on the side, you can’t go in the water, you know, so you’re just sitting and waiting to see what happens and that’s devastating,” Clark said.
The 11-year-old child is said to be OK.
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