2-year-old pulled from lake marks third child drowning in Broward in three weeks

A 2-year-old boy found in a lake in Plantation became the second child to drown in the city in a week and the fourth to drown in less than a month in South Florida.

The toddler was reported missing from home at around 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 9, Plantation police said in a news release. While officers were on their way to the neighborhood, a family member found the boy facedown in a nearby lake, according to police.

The family started CPR until first responders arrived and took him to Broward Health, where he was pronounced dead.

Four days earlier over the Fourth of July holiday weekend, Plantation officers responded to another child drowning in a lake. The morning of July 5, a father found his 4-year-old daughter floating in the lake behind their home and started CPR. She also died at a hospital, and investigators described the death as a “tragic accidental drowning.”

Drowning is the leading cause of death for kids under 5 in Florida, and deaths typically spike during summer months. Last year, 119 kids drowned in Florida, the deadliest year on record, according to U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

Two more deaths occurred in June in South Florida. A 4-year boy drowned in a pool in North Lauderdale on June 19, and three days later, an 8-year-old boy who disappeared from his home in Boynton Beach was found dead in a pool on a nearby property, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported.

The string of drownings coincides with another summertime phenomenon of hot car deaths. Two kids died in hot vehicles in Broward County in the span of one week.

Drowning can be prevented through secure door locks and alarms, supervision, pool fences, swim lessons and other methods, experts advise. The Florida Department of Health offers swim lesson vouchers to provide free swim instruction to kids under 18. Learn more on the Water Smart Broward website.