Man who went missing while fishing dies

A Bayside, Queens, man rescued Saturday from the waters off Mastic Beach was pronounced dead Tuesday at Brookhaven Memorial Hospital Medical Center in East Patchogue, Suffolk County police said.

Police said detectives were continuing their investigation of the incident in which Ivan Vulong, 21, was critically injured while fishing with friends.

Bystanders alerted that two young men were drowning about 3:40 p.m. rushed into the water but were able to pull only one of them, Gordon Sung, 21, of Rego Park, to shore. They couldn't reach Vulong, who was later pulled from the water by members of the Mastic Beach Fire Department.

Investigators believe that tides and unfamiliarity with the area were to blame, said Det. Sgt. John Sumwalt, a supervisor of the Shirley-based Seventh Squad detectives, who is handling the case.

Sung and Vulong were part of a larger group of about 10 who went out east to clam, fish and hang out. The friends initially went farther east, but a boat they had planned to board was full, and someone suggested the Mastic Beach area, police said.

Sung and Vulong ended up about 150 yards offshore, Sumwalt said.

There are no lifeguards on that section of beach, officials said.