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

  • Better and more affordable broadband options are needed in each of the four Hilltowns and, while some governments there have made giant steps toward getting them, the process is long and difficult, even in the best-case scenarios. 

  • The Rensselaerville Town Board recently cleared out all the red tape blocking the Kuhar Endowment Fund from being administered to local not-for-profits, but the delays and a lack of adequate publicity resulted in at least one organization not knowing it had to apply again. 

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