A woman in Hawaii was pronounced dead after she fell off a cliff and got swept away on Sunday as her helpless boyfriend watched her scream and ask for help, People reported.
The victim, who has been identified as Kala‘iokealaula Ashley Nicole Reyes Kanekoa, was 29 years old and visited the shoreline cliffs near Paradise Drive and Beach Road in Kea‘au with her boyfriend Dylan Gapp.
The Hawaii police department wrote in their Facebook post: "A 31-year-old Kea‘au man who was with the woman attempted to rescue her by throwing out a flotation device, but was unsuccessful as the woman was pulled out by the ocean’s currents."
Gapp said that although police and firemen came seven minutes after the 911 call, they were unable to save her because they lacked the necessary equipment and were forced to watch while she "suffered and screamed for help".
Authorities told the outlet that the fire truck was not required to carry ocean rescue equipment and that, at the time of their arrival, it was too dangerous and dark for them to immediately go into the water.
Gapp claimed that after an hour went by and the rescue boat and helicopter still hadn't arrived, he swam out to where his girlfriend was clinging to a raft.
However, by the time he returned, he said the first responders could no longer see her.