Listen to this article
Approximately 2 minutes
The audio version of this article was created using text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.
Investigators in California say a Calgary man is dead and his five-year-old daughter is missing after the couple was swept off the shoreline by a high ocean wave at Garrapata State Beach.
The Monterey County Sheriff's Office said Yujie Hu, 39, was with his wife and two children last Friday when a wave about six meters high pulled his daughter into the Pacific Ocean.
The office said that when Hu and his wife reached for their daughter, they too were swept into the water.
A beachgoer and an on-duty California park employee then pulled Hu from the ocean and attempted to resuscitate him while his wife made her way to the beach on her own.
The couple were taken to hospital, where Hu died and his wife was treated for mild hypothermia.
The sheriff's office said the search for the couple's 5-year-old daughter continues, and their 2-year-old child was not injured in the tragedy.
“Information provided indicates the child was last seen wearing a white shirt,” the sheriff's office said in a statement about the missing girl.
The large-scale search effort, during which a command post was set up from sunrise to sunset on Saturday as members of the US Coast Guard, the California Fire Department, divers and a helicopter searched for the girl, was suspended.
“California State Parks will keep personnel on scene Sunday at Garrapata State Beach to continue foot searches along the shoreline and accessible areas,” the office said.
“The family representative has asked for privacy at this difficult time.”
The California government website says Garrapata State Beach is a state park with two shorelines and a 50-foot cliff overlooking the Monterey coastline.
