Sag Harbor community mourns 6th grader who drowned in rafting accident on school trip
In a letter to the school community, Sag Harbor Superintendent Jeff Nichols said the district is mourning deeply.
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The Sag Harbor community is grieving the loss of a sixth-grade student who drowned during a rafting accident on a school trip to Pennsylvania.
Cesar Albarracin Guncay, 12, died Wednesday afternoon while participating in an annual class trip to the Pocono Mountains, according to school officials.
The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission said the accident happened around 5:30 p.m. on the Lehigh River in Carbon County. Cesar and four others were riding in an inflatable raft as part of a larger, guided excursion when the raft capsized.
All five people were thrown into the water. Authorities said Cesar did not resurface.
Search-and-rescue teams were dispatched and later recovered the boy’s body.
Officials said life jackets were being worn at the time of the accident. The Fish and Boat Commission is now conducting a review of safety equipment as part of its investigation.
“We’re like a really close community, so yeah, it is really sad,” said Ilana Lerner, a 12th-grade student at Pierson Middle-High School.
In a letter to the school community, Sag Harbor Superintendent Jeff Nichols said the district is mourning deeply.
“There are no words to adequately express the depth of this loss. Cesar was a cherished member of our school family, a child who mattered deeply to all who had the privilege of knowing him,” Nichols wrote.
A district spokesperson said the remaining students on the trip returned home overnight. Counseling services will be available at the school for students and staff.
