One man died and another is listed in critical condition after they were pulled unconscious from the bottom of a Staten Island pool Wednesday morning.
The men have been identified as Bohdan Vitenko of Manhattan and Jonathan Proce of Staten Island, both 21 years old.
Vitenko was pronounced dead at Richmond University Medical Center shortly after being retrieved from the pool, an NYPD spokesman said. Proce, who was an off-duty city lifeguard according to the Staten Island Advance, remains in critical condition.
The men, described as being in good physical shape, were conducting breathing exercises as part of some training for the military, reports the Staten Island Advance.
It wasn’t immediately clear if they were already enlisted.
Swimmers found the men in a three-foot deep area of the pool after “adult lap swim” ended at about 8:30 a.m., reports the Advance.
Both men went into cardiac arrest after they were pulled from the water. One of the men died on the way to the hospital.
The pool was crowded when the incident happened, witnesses told the Advance. It wasn’t immediately clear how many lifeguards were on duty at the time.
The pool was closed to facilitate the investigation. It wasn’t known when it would reopen.
