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The Honolulu Advertiser
Updated at 7:11 p.m., Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Parasail company employee dies in ocean accident

Advertiser Staff

A 24-year-old man who worked for a Hawai'i Kai ocean recreation company died today after he fell from a company parasailing harness into Maunalua Bay, the Coast Guard said.

The man died this afternoon at a hospital after he was pulled in an unresponsive state from the ocean.

The man was an employee of Sea Breeze, an ocean recreation company that operates out of Koko Marina.

A Coast Guard spokesman said the employee was aloft in a parasailing rig when he fell into the ocean.

The man was reported missing about 2:30 p.m. Lifeguards launched a rescue sled and patrolled the waters off the bay.

Lifeguards were able to spot the man submerged in about 20 to 30 feet of water, said Bryan Cheplic, spokesman for the city Emergency Services Department. The man was recovered and placed on the back of the rescue sled, where lifeguards began CPR.

The man was brought to shore and transferred to an ambulance. He was taken in critical condition to a hospital, where he died, Cheplic said.