A man drowned in Lake Washington while trying to rescue a child who had fallen off a sailboat near Chism Beach Park Wednesday evening, according to a Bellevue fire official.
Crews responded to the 800 block of Shoreland Avenue around 7 p.m. to reports of a child who had fallen off a sailboat, Bellevue Fire Department spokesperson Lt. Camry Olsen said.
The children made it back on to their sailboat, but the man slipped underwater, she said. When the Mercer Island Police Department's marine patrol unit responded, they determined the water was at least 110 feet deep and "due to the time that had elapsed and the depth, a rescue was not possible," fire officials said on Twitter.
As of 9 p.m., marine rescue crews hadn't found the man and switched to a recovery operation, Olsen said.
She said the ages of the children were not immediately known nor if there was an adult on the boat with them.
Mercer Island police will continue to investigate what happened, with help from the Bellevue Police Department.
No further information about the drowned man was available Wednesday night.
