A 56-year-old man drowned in Buckmaster Pond in Westwood Thursday afternoon, officials said. It was the third drowning in Massachusetts in two days, as people took to the water to beat the stifling heat.
A 13-year-old boy also died Thursday after being pulled from Bell Pond in Worcester on Wednesday night, and a 20-year-old man drowned Wednesday in Silver Lake at Breakheart Reservation in Saugus.
Westwood firefighters and police responded to a call at 2:22 p.m. Thursday reporting a drowning at the pond on High Street. With help from a Boston police diver, responders were able to recover the man’s body at 3:08 p.m., Fire Department spokeswoman Carolyn Wade said.
Paramedics attempted to resuscitate the man at the scene and on the way to Norwood Hospital, but those attempts were unsuccessful. The man was pronounced dead at the hospital, Wade said.
The cause of the drowning appeared to be accidental, Wade said. The man was later identified as James Kane. Swimming is not allowed in the pond, police said.
On Wednesday, the boy pulled from Bell Pond was rushed to UMass Medical Center, where his pulse was briefly restored. He was pronounced dead at 2:50 a.m. Thursday, Worcester police said in a statement. His name was not released.
Worcester police had responded to a report of a distressed swimmer at 8:09 p.m. Wednesday. An initial search conducted by officers and bystanders was unsuccessful, police said.
The Fire Department dive team found the boy in 12 feet of water, about 69 feet from shore. Officials estimated that the boy had been underwater for about 15 minutes.
Four lifeguards were working at the beach during the day, but their shifts ended at 7 p.m. Before leaving, the lifeguards posted signs informing the public that the beach was closed. They also cleared the water of swimmers at closing time, police said.
“We were saddened to hear of this tragic drowning and extend our deepest sympathy to the family and friends of the victim,’’ Worcester City Manager Edward Augustus Jr. said in an e-mail. “Incidents like this are a reminder that water safety is of paramount importance.’’
The Bell Pond is open till 10 p.m., but swimming isn’t allowed after 7 p.m., Worcester police Sergeant Kerry Hazelhurst said in an e-mail.
A 10-year-old boy also drowned in Bell Pond in 2013, the Telegram & Gazette of Worcester reported. He was found in 8 to 10 feet of water, 50 feet offshore.
Earlier Wednesday, in Saugus, Uwaldo Erazo, a 20-year-old from Honduras, tried to swim to an island in the middle of the lake at Breakheart Reservation.
When he was about halfway there, he began to struggle and went under the water. Erazo was staying with a cousin in Lynn, according to a statement from the Essex district attorney’s office.
Police received 911 calls from the lake area around 4:50 p.m. Saugus, Stoneham, and Wakefield firefighters removed Erazo from the water at 5:53 p.m. Erazo was pronounced dead at Melrose-Wakefield Hospital at 6:24 p.m., the statement said. Foul play is not suspected.
Thomas Oide can be reached at thomas.oide@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @thomasoide.
