TWELVE YEAR-OLD HARLEM GIRL DROWNS IN TRAGIC BEACH ACCIDENT WHILE ON NYC SCHOOL OUTING

From: New York attorney Gary E. Rosenberg (personal injury and accident attorney and lawyer; serving Brooklyn Queens Bronx; Brooklyn Injury Attorney)

On Tuesday, June 22, 2010, 12 year-old Nicole Suriel, a sixth grade student at Harlem's Columbia Secondary School went on a class trip to Long Beach, on Long Island. The trip was intended as a reward for students' fund-raising efforts in a charity walkathon.

Two teachers and a college student-intern accompanied the two dozen or so students. They lead the children over a wooden ramp and across a boardwalk - onto a portion of the beach posted with "No Swimming" and "No Lifeguard on Duty" signs. As the summer beach season was not considered begun, there were, indeed, no lifeguards on duty.

In a tragic accident, almost immediately after the child entered the water she was grabbed by a strong riptide and pulled out to sea; there she drowned. Her body was not found for almost an hour and a-half.

Questions are being raised as to whether the child's parents had agreed to allow her to go on the trip, whether they signed a permission slip for the school, or if they even knew about the trip

City of Long Beach police are engaged in an ongoing investigation to determine if criminal charges will be brought as a result of this young girl's accidental drowning death.

In a later occurrence, at the child's funeral, distraught parents confronted and screamed at the school's principal, demanding answers.