Man drowns while swimming in Atlantic County, NJ river

HAMILTON (Atlantic) — A man drowned in a river at a county park on Sunday afternoon.

Divers and rescue workers went into the water of the Great Egg Harbor River, which passes through Weymouth Furnace, a county park in the Mays Landing section of Hamilton Township, and recovered the body of a 23-year-old man around 4:30 p.m., according to county spokeswoman Linda Gilmore.

Swimming is not allowed in the river.

She referred questions to Hamilton Township police, who did not respond to New Jersey 101.5's request for more information on Monday morning.

Another man was hospitalized earlier in the afternoon after being pulled from the water, according to a report by 6 ABC Action News.

Gilmore said that the 85,973-acre park is a popular spot for tubing, canoeing and kayaking.

The park in the 1850s had an iron furnace, forge, a blacksmith shop and gristmill plus a church, owner's mansion and 20 houses for workers. Two paper mills took over the property in the 1860s and ceased production in 1897. The county acquired the property in 1966.

A 14-year-old boy drowned at the park during the Fourth of July holiday in 2018.

Two people drowned at separate bodies of water in Mahwah earlier in June. A man also drowned in the Delaware River in Trenton near the Trenton Thunder ballpark on June 16, according to an NJ.com report.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ

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