Divers in a Halifax lake recovered the body Sunday of a kayaker who had fallen in the water Friday, and a man who was pulled from Walden Pond Saturday evening died the following morning, officials said.
The 32-year-old unidentified man pulled out of Walden Pond had been listed in critical condition at Emerson Hospital Saturday night, according to a statement from the Middlesex District Attorney’s office. He was taken out of the popular Concord swimming destination at around 7 p.m. Saturday, according to the statement.
Lifeguards were no longer on duty when the man went under the water, according to the district attorney’s office.
In Halifax, dive teams searched Silver Lake in the rain Sunday for the kayaker who was identified as Shi Hu, 28, of Boston, by Plymouth County District Attorney’s office.
Hu was fishing with a friend, who was in a canoe near the middle of the lake, when he fell in, according to officials. The reason he fell was unclear, officials said.
Two State Police divers located Hu’s body at around 12:30 p.m. after it was detected by a sonar device, according to David Procopio, a State Police spokesman.
According to Halifax Police Chief Ted Broderick, authorities found no evidence that Hu had been wearing a life vest.
Joe Mouhanna, the founder of Boston Bass Stranglers, a fishing group that Hu was a part of, had gone fishing with him a day before the accident.
“He was a great kid. I had just gotten to know him. We spent the day fishing together, and he was so helpful to me,” Mouhanna said in a phone interview Sunday night. “He was really into bass fishing.”
The group plans to hold a tournament in Hu’s name, Mouhanna said.
Phillip Belcher, 30, of Plympton, is a fisherman who said he was acquainted with Hu, who went by the first name Kenny, through a friend.
“He was an experienced kayak fisherman; he’s done this a million times, [and] he was doing what he loved to do,” Belcher said in a phone interview on Sunday morning.
Belcher said that on Saturday evening, he and a group of about 20 others stood outside the Walmart in Halifax wearing life vests, to raise awareness of water safety. Mouhanna said he was part of the group, too.
“We stood out on the corner on the busiest intersection in Halifax,” Belcher said. “I previously didn’t always have my life vest on, but going forward I will never be on the water without a life vest. No one should be out on the water without one.”
Alexandra Koktsidis can be reached at alexandra.koktsidis@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @akoktsidis.