SECOND DROWNING AT SMITHVILLE LAKE THIS MONTH
The Missouri State Highway Patrol, Clay County Sheriff’s Office and Smithville Fire District responded to the Little Platte Swim Beach at Smithville Lake following a 9-1-1 call reporting a possible drowning.
According to the highway patrol, around 8 p.m. on Sunday, July 23, 32-year-old Bektemir Yusupov of Parkville was swimming near Little Platte Park when he went under and did not resurface.
The Smithville Area Fire Protection District and Clay County Sheriff’s Office were the first to respond to Little Platte Beach. Upon their arrival just after 8:10 p.m., law enforcement officers told swimmers to vacate the beach immediately, signaling the beach was now closed. Witnesses at the scene told The Landmark the depth of the water at the beach is waist-high, but a number of swimmers left the dedicated swimming beach to enjoy deeper water depths.
Smithville Lake has two swimming beaches, including Camp Branch Beach on its east side and Little Platte Beach on its west side. It was reported that Bektemir was swimming without a life jacket when he went under.
Bektemir’s body was later recovered and taken to Frontier Forensics, a medical examiner’s office in Cass County.
This is the second fatal drowning at or near the Little Platte Swim Beach this month. On the Fourth of July, Carlos Antonio, 22, of St. Joseph drowned at Little Platte Beach. According to an incident report, Antonio walked off a ledge in the water and never resurfaced.
According to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, every year in the United States there are about 4,000 fatal drownings and 8,000 nonfatal drownings. Of these drownings, nearly 80 percent are male.
There’s a pattern that suggests there are several factors that may contribute to the higher rates of drowning among males. Experts say one thing is that males traditionally exhibit more risk-taking behaviors. Generally speaking, additional contributing factors in drownings can include alcohol use and increased exposure to water.