Authorities in Montgomery County, Maryland, are urging residents to take caution with their children at pools, lakes and ponds this summer after a 2-year-old boy drowned Friday night.
Malik Bojang was playing with his family at a tot lot near Lake Whetstone in the Montgomery Village area, when he managed to wander off.
Police said Saturday that relatives who were with Malik did the right thing in immediately calling police when they noticed he was gone. But a few minutes later, a passerby found Malik in the lake. He was unresponsive.
"This is a classic case that shows just how quickly something like this can happen," Montgomery County Police Capt. Paul Starks said at a news conference Saturday.
The passerby and a police officer did CPR on the boy until medics arrived.
Malik was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he died a short time later.
"There are no words, really, to describe what his family is going through today," Starks said. "His family, of course, is in deep grief tonight as they begin making arrangements."
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Starks said Malik's family did everything right when they discovered he had wandered away, but it only took minutes for him to get in the lake.
He and Capt. Peter Dugan, with Montgomery County Fire & EMS, urged residents to take extra precautions when they are out near any body of water this summer.
"There's a lot of hazards in the area: pools, lakes, we have parks all over the place... just asking everybody to do everything they can to help eachother out as well," Dugan said. "Obviously, this is an opportunity to talk to your kids... explain to your child that they shouldn't be near water without an adult nearby."
