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Two Drown In Separate Incidents In Chicago Area

(CBS) -- For many, Labor Day means a day on the water but this year might be a little more dangerous than year's past. Already this holiday weekend, two people drowned in the area.

At Foster Avenue Beach, a 49-year-old man lost his life Sunday morning. He was swimming about twenty five feet off the shoreline when witnesses say he got into trouble and slipped under the water.

Firefighters were called and arrived just minutes later. They quickly located the man and pulled him out but it was too late. He was pronounced dead in a hospital.

Hours later a young boy died while swimming in the Iroquois River near Kankakee. He was trying to help a friend who was struggling in the water when he slipped under and disappeared in about four feet of water.

"You think you're in shallow water, you venture out a little further and you're swept away by the current a little farther and farther until you fall into a hole," said Gregory Neal of the Aroma Fire Protection District.

If you happen to encounter a rip current, while enjoying the water this weekend, safety experts say you should flip, float and follow. That's means flip onto your back, keep your head above water, catch your breath and then simply follow the current, don't fight it, that way you're more likely to get out alive.

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