Swimmer Drowns In Montauk Surf On Tuesday; Second Swimmer Hospitalized

A 31-year-old man drowned after getting caught in a rip current at Ditch Plains Beach in Montauk on Tuesday evening, July 19.

Three off-duty East Hampton Town lifeguards who were surfing nearby pulled the man, identified by police as Benjamin Z. Kitburi of Montauk, and two other distressed swimmers, both female, from the surf west of the main parking lot just after 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

The lifeguards brought Kitburi to the beach and began performing CPR until an ambulance and emergency medical personnel arrived.

The man and one of the women, 26-year-old Persia Jensen, also of Montauk, were transported to Stony Brook Southampton Hospital by Montauk Fire Department ambulance, where the man was pronounced dead. The woman was not in serious condition and was taken to the hospital for evaluation.

The third swimmer, 32-year-old Jensen Turner of Montauk, was evaluated by EMS at the scene but not hospitalized.

John Ryan, chief of East Hampton Town’s lifeguards, said that surf conditions on Tuesday were hazardous, with yellow flag wave conditions posted at all town beaches. The surf was especially dangerous in Montauk, where rip currents can be especially strong. And the wind and surf appear to have “cranked up” late in the day, as is common on warm summer days — after lifeguards were off-duty, he said.

“With strong south-southwest wind like that and 4-foot waves, the rip currents get really bad,” Ryan said. “Motel row was bad all day.”

Ryan said that even though winds had died down early Wednesday, he expected surf conditions to still be rough and rip currents to be a major risk. He warned swimmers to be aware of rip currents, swim at lifeguarded beaches and not go in the water late in the day when it’s rough and lifeguards are not on their stands.

Ryan said that the three off-duty lifeguards who were on the scene and pulled the three swimmers from the surf were seasoned members of the town’s lifesaving units and got to the distressed swimmers quickly. They were shaken by the tragedy, he said.

“They kept asking me last night, did he make it did he make it? Did he make it?” Ryan said. “It’s such a hard thing. You go through all this training and you prepare yourself, but then reality hits you in the face like this. It really sucks.”