Drownings in Lake Michigan are up 87% over the past year, according to the non-profit The Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project.
The group says it has tracked 794 drownings in the Great Lakes since 2010. In late July, Chicago fire officials urged people to take extra precautions following several water rescue incidents.
In the latest incident, a body pulled from Lake Michigan on Thursday was identified as a man who went missing while “boat hopping," the Chicago Tribune reports.
Oluwafemi “Arthur” Labinjo, 30, was last seen alive Saturday, July 27, while “boat hopping’’ in the “Playpen” area near Navy Pier.
On July 27, a 31-year-old man died after he and a friend jumped into Lake Michigan from a boat approximately a half-mile from the shoreline.
In a separate incident, a woman was killed and two other people were injured July 11 after a boat the trio was riding on crashed into a jetty just south of Fullerton.
Another five people were hurt July 17 when their boat struck a breakwall on Lake Michigan near Randolph Street.
Local
Twenty eight people have drowned this year in Lake Michigan, The Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project says. At this time last year, 15 drownings had been reported.
