Lebanese man from Dearborn missing after drowning in Lake Erie in Michigan

Hussein Afif Hassoun is 23 years old. Since Sunday, the Lebanese man originally from Kfar Hata (Saida) and resident of Dearborn, Michigan, in the United States, has been missing after drowning in Lake Erie, one of the five Great Lakes of North America.

He was with four other adults "operating a white Baja [speed] boat on the lake, several hundred yards east of the Sandy Creek/Sterling State Park boat channel," according to a statement from the Monroe County Sheriff's Office (Michigan). "When they jumped off the boat to swim, Hassoun started struggling and went under," the office said, while another statement specified that he "was not wearing a life jacket."

After the incident was reported at 5:49 p.m. (local time), the boat was escorted to shore by a fire rescue boat, while divers began searching for the victim's body, the statement continued. The search was suspended at 11 p.m. due to "dangerous waves" and resumed Monday morning with the help of the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Border Patrol and dive teams.

On Monday, the victim's family confirmed to the Bint Jbeil website that the young man had not yet been found.

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"It breaks my heart. I noticed that a lot of people are unaware of the currents in the lake and don't really understand how easy it is to get carried away," commented one user Monday, reacting to the Monroe Sheriff's Office's statement. Another highlighted that the lake was "incredibly rough" on Sunday, noting that "experienced boaters, fishermen, people who grew up here, etc., drown all the time" in this lake.

More than 50 drownings have been recorded this year in the Great Lakes, according to the Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project, cited by the Detroit News website.

The city of Dearborn, nicknamed the "capital of Arab America," has had a significant Lebanese diaspora since the early 20th century, mainly from southern Lebanon, whose migration was spurred by job opportunities offered by the Ford plant, 10 kilometers east of Detroit.