Officials in California have identified the Calgary child who died on Friday when she was swept into the Pacific Ocean.
Anzi Hu, 7, died after she was caught in a large wave at Garrapata Beach.
Her father, 39-year-old Yuji Hu, also died after attempting to rescue her.
The Monterey County Sheriff’s Office said it was notified about a water rescue at the beach, which is roughly 16 kilometres south of Carmel, just before 1 p.m.
Andres Rosas, a public information officer with the sheriff’s office, said a tourist and an off-duty lifeguard, who were in the area, responded when they saw the family was in trouble.
Rosas said when Yuji tried to save his daughter, he was also swept into the ocean. Anzi’s mother tried to bring her family back to shore, but she was unable to reach them, he said.
The tourist and lifeguard pulled Yuji from the water and conducted CPR, the sheriff’s office said. Yuji was later taken to hospital, but was pronounced dead upon arriving there.
The mother was also taken to hospital where she was treated for mild hypothermia and later released.
The family’s two-year-old daughter was also present but unharmed.
Rosas said the family is requesting privacy while they grieve.
Search efforts for Anzi ran until 9 p.m. on Friday, at which point darkness and the weather made the search too dangerous. It continued from sunrise to sunset on Saturday and renewed again on Sunday, Rosas said.
A largely volunteer Monterey County Sheriff’s search and rescue team assisted with the effort, along with California State Parks, the U.S. Coast Guard and the California Highway Patrol, while a naval air station provided helicopter support.
Juan Heredia, who founded a recovery dive team in California, heard about the incident in the news and drove several hours to Garrapata Beach to aid in the search on Sunday.
When Heredia arrived, he met with a sheriff and lifeguard who thought the child was driven south by the current. Once the tide was lower later in the day, he noticed the water was moving north instead. He was soon able to spot Anzi in the waves and bring her to shore.
“This case shocked me because when I grabbed her in my arms to walk to the shore, I remembered my daughter … when I was moving her from my bed to her bed when she was about that age,” said Heredia.
“The dad was a hero. He tried to save his daughter, and I think that’s the nature of any parent.”
Anzi was found roughly 400-800 metres from where she was last seen, and 90 metres from the shore, said Rosas.
The Monterey County Sheriff’s Office responds to similar situations several times per year, Rosas said.
A high surf advisory and warnings about large waves were issued on Friday due to a series of storms in the area.
Rosas said parts of the beach can quickly enter into very deep water, making the area even more dangerous.
“You can walk five, 10 feet out and you are already talking about extremely deep water at these beaches,” said Rosas.
Mike Dippel, chief ranger with California State Parks, said powerful waves that were 4.5 to six metres high were seen on Friday. He added that search efforts were aided by boat and air that day, because the surf was too large for lifeguards to enter the water until Saturday.
“Unfortunately, that beach at Garrapata is notorious for having very large waves that are close to shore, where the tide can rush up onto the beach during high tide,” said Dippel.
“This is a horrible tragedy for this family.”
Dippel said visitors to the area should remember to be aware of surf conditions, not to turn their back to the ocean, and to go to beaches with a lifeguard present. He also suggested asking them about the condition of the water.
