Lifeguards Rescue 5 People in Heavy Surf

Five people were rescued from heavy surf off a jetty Wednesday, and four of them were hospitalized in serious condition after nearly drowning, authorities said.

The incident happened about 7 p.m. near the end of the 56th Street jetty, where 5- to 6-foot swells had created a strong riptide, said John Blauer of the Newport Beach Fire Department. At least two of the people “were within moments of going underwater and not being seen again,” he said.

Lifeguard Arn Van Dyke was making his final rounds in a jeep on the beach when he spotted someone in a white T-shirt clinging to the end of the jetty, Blauer said. While swimming to the rescue, Van Dyke found two more people about to go under. He called a second lifeguard for backup, and they discovered two more two people clinging to the end of the jetty. The three men and two women were in their late teens or early 20s.