Posted on Fri, Jul. 30, 2004
DEERFIELD BEACH
14-year-old boy drowns while diving with father
A 14-year-old Deerfield Beach boy died while scuba diving with his father in shallow water Thursday afternoon.
BY CRISTINA SILVA
Herbert Berger surfaced briefly to clear his mask while scuba diving with his 14-year-old son Thursday afternoon.
But when he dived back into what police later said were ''relatively shallow waters,'' his youngest child was nowhere to be seen.
Lifeguards found Yannick Berger about 20 minutes later on the ocean floor.
Yannick was rushed to North Broward General Medical Center in Pompano Beach but was pronounced dead soon afterward, at 5:41 p.m.
''It's such a horrible tragedy. Not only did this boy die, but his father was there to watch it,'' said Hugh Graf, a spokesman for the Broward Sheriff's Office.
It's unclear how long the boy was underwater or what went wrong, Graf said. Foul play is not suspected.
The Bergers were diving about 200 yards out from the 900 block of Southeast 21st Avenue in Deerfield Beach, BSO said.
Rescue officials were contacted at about 4:50 p.m. and arrived at the beach with a helicopter and a marine unit vessel. Deerfield Beach lifeguards found Yannick. Around 5:10 p.m. he was brought to the surface and rushed to shore on a water scooter.
An autopsy is scheduled for today. There were no other injuries.
Yannick was Raphaela and Herbert Berger's second child.
They also had an older son, neighbors said Thursday night.
Both boys were described as polite and well-behaved.
The Bergers had just moved to their home in the Starlight Cove neighborhood a year ago and kept mostly to themselves, neighbors said.
Many different factors could have contributed to Berger's death, Graf said, including weather conditions and equipment malfunction.
RIP CURRENTS
The National Weather Service issued a warning for moderate rip currents in Broward beaches yesterday, said Barry Baxter, a meteorologist.
While the incident occurred on the second and last day of Florida's lobster sport diving miniseason, it was not clear Thursday whether the Bergers were hunting lobsters.
The miniseason is the time of year when most diving fatalities occur, said Jeff Porode, president of South Florida Diving Headquarters, a Pompano Beach dive shop.
``Every miniseason we get people who haven't dived in a whole year. They come out and they aren't prepared. They get all fanatic about getting the lobsters, and they forget to keep safe.''
CERTIFIED DIVERS
BSO officials said they did not know whether the Bergers were certified scuba divers.
Children can become certified at age 10, but must dive under adult supervision until they are 15, Porode said.
