Maui firefighters recovered the body of a 27-year-old man from a pond in Wailua this afternoon near mile marker 21 on Hana Highway.

Emergency crews responded to a 2:26 p.m. call that a man had fallen into a pond while taking photos on the bank of the West Wailua Iki Stream and failed to resurface. A friend jumped in to try to save him, but was unable to keep the man afloat without being pulled underwater, according to a report from the Maui Fire Department.

Bystanders were unable to get cell p hone reception to call 911 until driving out of the area.

At about 3 p.m., divers recovered the man’s body from the bottom of the pond, under approximately 10 feet of water, and carried him up to the highway, where paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene. The victim was a Maui native living in Honolulu.

This incident marks the 14th fatal drowning to date on Maui County this year, and the first to occur in a freshwater environment.