Man drowns in Thompsons Lake

The Enterprise — Noah Zweifel

Thompsons Lake

BERNE — A drowning victim was pulled from Thompsons Lake on Aug. 11 by the Albany County Sheriff’s Office and New York State Police, Sheriff Craig Apple wrote on social media last week. 

Apple said the victim, 58-year-old Mahbeer Magasa, of Guyana, was in around 40 feet of water and that attempts to resuscitate him failed. An autopsy confirmed that he died of asphyxiation, Apple said.

It’s the second drowning death at Thompsons Lake in just over two months. A 47-year-old woman died there on June 4 when a boat she was in tipped over.

Thompsons Lake campground is part of the John Boyd Thacher State Park. A State Police spokeswoman referred Enterprise questions to the county sheriff’s office, which did not respond.

More Hilltowns News

  • The Berne-Knox-Westerlo Board of Education unanimously adopted Superintendent Bonnie Kane’s $24.7 million budget for the 2025-26 school year, which will go to a public vote on May 20. 

  • Albany County, in one of its first acts as owner of the property, has fixed up the road leading up to Switzkill Farm as it prepares for more improvements down the line. 

  • Although an old agreement is still in place and would remain so indefinitely, the town of Berne is considering signing a new contract with the cable company, Spectrum, that would keep the franchise fee the town receives from the company the same but would remove an obligation for Spectrum to build new infrastructure in areas that meet a household-density threshold. 

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