Photo:Kingston Fire Department
Kingston Fire Department
A 16-year-old from Brooklyn died Tuesday after jumping off a waterfall in the Catskills in upstate New York.
The Greene County Sheriff’s Office told PEOPLE in a statement that the incident happened around 3:21 p.m. local time when the boy was swimming with a group of friends.
Police closed down the roadway for approximately two hours as they conducted rescue and recovery efforts. The Greene County Sheriff’s Office said the incident is under investigation.
The operation was the third one to happen at the site in just over two weeks, according toThe Times Union.On July 26, rescue teams scaled down one of the cliff faces at the location to help a person who had gotten injured on the bank of Fawn’s Leap.
The Department of Environmental Conservation, which oversees the area, said in a statement to theTimes Unionthat “ensuring public safety is DEC’s top priority.”
“With the summer recreation season under way, DEC continues to encourage visitors to state lands and natural places to plan ahead and prepare to recreate safely and responsibly,” the DEC added.
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Fawn’s Leap has 24-inch-high waterfalls and is described as a popular swimming location for kids during the summer months, according toCatskillMountaineer.com.
The area has also become a go-to diving spot for visitors, with several videos posted on YouTube and TikTok, including one clip of a manjumping over the fallsthat has been viewed 6.6 million times. TikTok added a warning to the video, letting others know that “participating in this activity could get you or others hurt.”
source: people.com
