NY man drowns in Atlantic off North Carolina’s Outer Banks

HATTERAS, N.C. – National Park Service officials think a 75-year-old man from southern New York died off the North Carolina shore while trying to escape from a rip current tugging him out to sea.

Rangers at the Cape Hatteras National Seashore say the man from Downsville, New York died Saturday afternoon in the waves near Hatteras Village. Officials say a companion swimmer reported the man became unconscious while attempting to escape from the rip current.

A cause of death hasn’t been determined.

Saturday’s death is the third in the waters off the national seashore this year, down from five in 2018, seven in 2017 and eight in 2016.