City of Miami Dive Rescue have resumed their search for a man who fell off a personal watercraft in Blue Lagoon. Unsafe conditions forced the suspension overnight.
Officials told NBC 6 they found a floating life vest alongside two watercrafts earlier Monday afternoon. The incident happened around 3 p.m. near the 5500 block of Blue Lagoon Drive.
The 32-year old man is presumed dead as officials shifted the search and rescue to a search and recovery. Divers searched for more than an hour before making their decision to shift the mission to a recovery effort. Crews were using sonar equipment under water to search for the man.
Miami Fire Captain Ignatius Carroll said the man was riding on the personal watercraft with three other people when he was seen going up in the air and then crashing straight down into the water. The man never resurfaced.
Rick Rojo was nearby when the accident happened. "I was out back by the lagoon and I saw the guy flying by and he just catapulted off his Jet Ski, 10 feet in the air. He landed in the water and he never resurfaced and I called 911," explained Rojo.
Loved ones of the missing man were at the scene as divers searched the water. Areas of the lagoon are as deep as 60 feet.
