OCEAN CITY, Md. - Ocean rip currents that swept a Columbia, Md., family into rough waters Thursday claimed a father and his 15-year-old daughter whose life he attempted to save, resort authorities said.
Douglas Martin, 46, was pronounced dead after he was pulled to shore shortly after 6 p.m. by a U.S. Coast Guard rescue vessel near 86th Street, where the family reportedly was swimming, said Barry Neeb, spokesman at the Ocean City Police Department.
Amy Martin, also recovered by the rescue boat, died about an hour later at Atlantic General Hospital in Berlin, Neeb confirmed.
Pulled to safety by off-duty members of the Ocean City Beach Patrol was a 13-year-old sibling who floated on her back until help arrived, he said.
Another sibling, a 17-year-old girl, managed to swim alone to safety, Neeb said.
The children's mother was in the family condominium on 78th Street at the time of the tragedy, he said.
"They were vacationing and staying in a condo at the beach," he said. "They were swimming, and drawn out into the water very quickly."
The tragedy unfolded when a rip current swept the foursome farther into the ocean from a depth described by witnesses as knee to waist high, said Barry Buck, a spokesman for the Coast Guard.
According to witnesses, the father and two of the girls were swimming to shore when Douglas Martin returned to the ocean in search of his daughter, Amy.
"He realized one of the girls was still out there and he went back to get her," Neeb said.
In a 25-foot vessel, Coast Guard members responded to a call from beach patrol personnel, then at the scene pulled in one of the victims.
"We could see them," said Coast Guard Officer 1st Class Tia Toth.
Small-craft advisories were in effect, although Toth said it was uncertain if weather contributed to the incident.
Earlier Thursday, the National Weather Service had issued rip current advisories for the Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey coasts, warning swimmers to beware.
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation was administered throughout the ordeal, Neeb said, and added that beach patrol personnel were off duty and he was uncertain how some of them responded so quickly.
"They showed up; they were there almost immediately," he said.
The U.S. Lifesaving Association has estimated that rip currents kill more than 100 people at the nation's beaches each year. Experts advise people caught in rip currents to swim parallel to shore until they escape, floating or treading water if necessary.
Deborah Gates of The (Salisbury, Md.) Daily Times and staff reporter Andre L. Taylor contributed to this article.