Man who drowned in Laguna Beach’s Crescent Bay ID’d

A 24-year-old man from Fontana apparently drowned while swimming in Laguna Beach, officials said Tuesday.

Laguna Beach Public Safety Dispatch received a 911 call at 7:28 p.m. Monday reporting that the victim went under while swimming at Crescent Bay and was missing, according to Kai Bond, marine safety chief of the Laguna Beach Department of Marine Safety.

A witness reported that the young man started struggling to stay afloat while swimming with a friend, Bond said.

A search was launched by Laguna Beach public safety staff, with assistance from an Orange County Sheriff’s Department helicopter, Newport Beach lifeguards and the U.S. Coast Guard, according to Bond.

“At 8:13 p.m., the swimmer was located by the Marine Safety dive team and transported to Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo where he was later pronounced deceased,” Bond said in a news release.

The man was identified by the county coroner’s office as Moustafa Gulzarzada, 24, of Fontana, sheriff’s spokesperson Sgt. Gerard McCann confirmed Wednesday.

—Assistant editor Sara Cardine contributed to this report.