Stamford Hill teenager dies swimming at Hampstead Heath ponds

Hampstead Health men’s pond. Photograph: Nick Sarebi (Creative Commons)

A 19-year-old who drowned while swimming with his friends in Hampstead Heath ponds has been named locally as a teenager from Stamford Hill.

The teenager, believed to be from Stamford Hill’s Orthodox Jewish Community, has been named by Jewish news sites as Moshe Yitzchok Greenfield.

Police were called to the men’s pond on Hampstead Heath at around 5.30pm on Wednesday after the teenager got into difficulty whilst swimming.

Firefighters sent three boats out onto the pond to search the water but were unsuccessful. Station Manager Sam Kazmanli, who was at the scene said: “Firefighters used three boats on the pond and carried out a methodical search.

“Despite our best efforts we were unable to locate the man and handed the incident over to the police.”

Specialist officers from the Marine Policing Unit recovered his body from the water shortly before 11pm.