San Joaquin River drowning victim ID’d as Fresno man. He couldn’t swim, coroner says
A Fresno man was identified Monday afternoon as the person who drowned at Skaggs Bridge Park in Kerman.
The coroner said 20-year-old Sachin Kumar drowned Sunday while he was with a group of friends in the water at recreation the spot on the San Joaquin River. He did not know how to swim and was not wearing a life jacket, the coroner’s office said.
Deputies responded to the park, located near Highway 145, of reports of a drowning after four men entered the water just before 4 p.m.
Deputies and EMS arrived and found one man on the shore in need of medical attention. He was rushed to the hospital and was in critical condition.
Deputies said a man who was in the river noticed another man in trouble and rescued the victim and brought him ashore.
The two did not know each other, deputies said.
Medics evaluated the good Samaritan, who was determined to be OK.
First responders then learned another man was possibly missing in the river. He had been swimming with the other men. The sheriff’s dive team was called out to conduct a search.
The divers found Kumar at 7 p.m. and he was pronounced dead.
Kumar’s drowning was the second at Skaggs Bridge in June.
Recent drownings in the Fresno region
▪ Two people drowned at Angel Falls in Madera County on June 19. Monica Ledesma and James Hall, both 35 of Madera County were identified after they went missing near at the popular spot north of Bass Lake.
▪ On June 16, the coroner identified 61-year-old Steve Marquez as a drowning victim at Millerton Lake in Fresno County. According to the lake’s supervising ranger, Marquez was pulled from a section of unguarded shoreline and hadn’t been wearing a life jacket.
▪ On June 12, Bree Scott went missing before her body was recovered two days later in the Kaweah River in Tulare County. She fell into the water and her body was found about 1 1/2 miles from the area where she first went into the water, deputies said.
▪ On June 9, 16-year-old Alejandro Araujo of Orosi was pulled from Shaver Lake after drowning. The teen was with a group of people about 12:40 p.m. when he jumped from a pontoon boat while wearing a life vest. Investigators later determined he had placed the vest around his neck but never clipped the belt around his waist, the sheriff’s office said. The vest came off and he disappeared under the water.
▪ Ricardo Perez, 24, of Madera drowned at Skaggs Bridge Park on June 7. Deputies said Perez’s friends pulled the man to the shore and began CPR until first responders arrived. The victim’s friends told deputies that he did not know how to swim and was not wearing a life jacket.
