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Divers unable to locate body of swimmer at Long Pond Ironworks

| 17 Mar 2016 | 02:30
    Photo by Patricia Keller Police closed off the entrance to the Long Pond Ironworks last week after a 21-year-old Jersey City man apparently drown while swimming with friends on an unseasonably warm day.
    Photo by Patricia Keller Police closed off the entrance to the Long Pond Ironworks last week after a 21-year-old Jersey City man apparently drown while swimming with friends on an unseasonably warm day.
    The area is marked with signs stating swimming is not allowed. Despite the signs, Mine Hole is a common site for jumping off cliffs and swimming.
    The area is marked with signs stating swimming is not allowed. Despite the signs, Mine Hole is a common site for jumping off cliffs and swimming.
    The park police shut down roads entering the Long Pond Ironworks area during the search for a swimmer who hadn't resurfaced last Thursday.
    The park police shut down roads entering the Long Pond Ironworks area during the search for a swimmer who hadn't resurfaced last Thursday.
    Reporters and members of the public were not allowed to go toward the area near Mine Hole where the drowning occurred.
    Reporters and members of the public were not allowed to go toward the area near Mine Hole where the drowning occurred.

By Erika Norton
West Milford - A 21-year-old Jersey City man went missing March 10 after swimming in an area of Long Pond Ironworks State Park in West Milford.

According to Caryn Shinske, a spokesperson for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Wajhat Yaquoob jumped from a rock cliff into the Wanaque River at the State Park and failed to surface last Thursday. Yaquoob was with four friends on the unseasonably warm day at the area known as "Mine Hole."

Dive teams attempted to locate Yaquoob that afternoon after his friends reported that he had not surfaced. But after searching each subsequent day since he went missing, the New Jersey State Park Police, the West Milford Police Department and New Jersey State Police jointly decided to suspend the dive search as of late in the day March 14.

“The West Milford Police dive team battled continuous hazardous conditions on Friday, Saturday and Sunday in subsequent dive searches,” according to Shinske. “State Police also attempted to use side scan sonar on Sunday, but were also plagued by hazardous conditions brought on by strong currents and shafts below the rock surface.”

The NJDEP also stated that State Park Police are continuing land-based recovery efforts.

Despite his body not being found, a funeral for Yaquoob was held on March 15 at the Muslim Federation of New Jersey mosque in Jersey City, where, according to the mosque’s Facebook page, Yaquoob attended Sunday School.

A Facebook page titled “Wajhat Yaquoob Rescue Mission” was created on March 13, posting updates about the search and urging authorities to continue searching for Yaquoob’s body. Shakeel Ahmed posted this onto the page:

“Deeply sadden by the sudden death of Wajhat, he was so special, his beautiful smile on bright face engraved on our hearts and thought of losing him tears roll down our eyes. wish if tears could build a stairway, we would go right up to heavens and bring you home again. you are alive in our hearts.”

On the day of the incident, temperatures were near 80 degrees, breaking records in several parts of the state. According to Shinske, swimming is not permitted at Long Pond Ironworks State Park. Despite the restricted area, swimming and jumping off the cliffs is a common occurrence at Mine Hole. There are many photos and videos posted on the internet showing just that.

As for other incidents of drowning, the NJDEP is “not aware of similar incidents at Long Pond Ironworks State Park within at least the past decade.”

Have you ever been swimming at "mine hole?" Go to westmilfordmessenger.com and tell us about it.