20-year-old man drowns at Blue Lagoon in Portland

The Portland police are probing the death of a man who drowned while swimming with friends at Blue Lagoon on Monday.

He has been identified as 20-year-old security guard Robert Ford of a David Lane address in Port Antonio.

It is reported that he went swimming with friends shortly before 5 p.m. on Monday and encountered difficulties and drowned.

Ford reportedly jumped into the water and he went under.

It is understood that Ford, who was reportedly playing around with friends in the water, went under again, came back up, and then disappeared.

Lifeguards jumped into the water after realising that Ford was in trouble, and after a few minutes, he was pulled out in a state of unconsciousness.

It is theorised that friends and onlookers thought that he was playing a game.

Ford was later pronounced dead at the scene by a doctor and the body was later removed to the morgue.

This is the second incident of drowning in the parish in less than a week, with the death of a 19-year-old student of the College of Agriculture Science and Education (CASE) at Passley Gardens at a beach at the West Campus on April 9.

- Gareth Davis Snr

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