BOGALUSA, La. — A man visiting from Honduras drowned Sunday in Bogalusa, according to the Washington Parish Sheriff’s Office. He was identified by the coroner as 24-year-old Oscar Molina Torres.
Torres was at White Sands Lake Day Beach, when he reportedly had been submerged in the water and had not come up. A WPSO deputy working a detail said he witnessed several men and White Sands employees trying to find him. WPSO said he was found in 10 minutes and two White Sands employees and two women began administering CPR.
“Despite thirty minutes of rotation of CPR and defying attempts from a nurse in the crowd to assist, Mr. Torres was unresponsive and without a heart pulse,” a statement from the WPSO said.
White Sands Lake Day Beach managers would not comment on the incident, instead posting to Facebook on Wednesday morning.
“Our hearts are broken by the events of Sunday. Please know that we are in prayer for the family and anyone else present on Sunday. It is true that a man (not a child) drowned on our property on Sunday,” the social media post said.
Several witnesses criticized the handling of the situation, saying there was no urgency.
She said White Sands remained open after Torres’ body was pulled.
“Everything went back to normal like someone hadn’t just drowned,” said Cecilia Marquez, who was there.
“The rest of the nonsense you are reading on the Internet is false. Out of respect for the family ,we will not be discussing the details on Facebook, the phone or anyplace else," The White Sand managers said on social media. "Accordingly, we have turned off the comments on our page for now. Please keep my staff in your prayers.”
Torres was described by his cousin as a great person and hard worker who just arrived to the United States two weeks ago on a visa. His family is working to figure out how to fund and transfer his body back to Honduras.
“Our deepest sympathies go out to Mr. Torres’ family during this unimaginably difficult time. Although we are aware of the fact that water-related incidents tend to occur more frequently during summer, no one could have been prepared for a tragedy of this magnitude,” Sheriff Randy Seal said.
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