Dad Dies Trying to Save Drowning Daughter in Hawaii

'He jumped in and tried to save her'
By Michael Harthorne,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 19, 2016 3:01 PM CDT
Dad Dies Trying to Save Drowning Daughter in Hawaii
A blow hole at Hawaii's Makapuu Tide Pools on Oahu.   (Shutterstock)

A father died trying to rescue his drowning daughter Saturday in Hawaii, CBS News reports. Six-year-old Mina Hornor of Berkeley, California, was walking along the rocks at the Makapuu Tide Pools on Oahu when she fell in the ocean. The Honolulu Star-Advertiser says she was knocked into the water by a wave. Her father, 46-year-old Mark Hornor, jumped in to save her. They were pulled further out to sea by a series of rogue waves, according to Hawaii News Now. By the time lifeguards on jet skis got to them, they were unresponsive. They died after being transported to the hospital.

Hornor's brother says Hornor was an experienced surfer and in good physical shape. "He jumped in and tried to save her," Matthew Hornor tells Hawaii News Now. "I don't think he wanted to come back empty handed." Another father and daughter drowned at the Makapuu Tide Pools in 2011, and authorities warn people to be careful in the area. On Saturday, there was a high-surf advisory and a lot of wind. “On a day like today, it wasn't for families down there," a government spokesperson says. (More drowning stories.)

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