Belmar Elementary School Grieves Over Death of Drowning Victim, As Other Student Clings to Life

By Cathy Goetz, TAPintoBelmar/LakeComo

BELMAR, NJ — On a day that should have been a time of celebration at Belmar Elementary School is a time of grief as the school mourns the drowning of one 13-year-old student and prays for the 12-year-old student who is clinging to life.

Today, June 16, marks the final day of the school year for Belmar Elementary School — less than 15 hours after two unidentified students, who were cousins, were pulled from the surf at the Ninth Avenue beach along Ocean Avenue. While attempts to save one of the girls were unsuccessful, the other girl is in critical condition on life-support at Jersey Shore University Medical Center, Neptune.

What makes the situation even more heart-wrenching is that the tragic scene began to unfold at about 6:30 p.m. on June 15 — the same time 55 eighth-graders were participating in their graduation ceremony at Belmar Elementary School, unaware of the massive emergency scene just six blocks away.

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