Girl, 6, is swept to her death on ritzy Hamptons beach during morning swim on July 4

By NIC WHITE, US SENIOR INVESTIGATIONS REPORTER Published: 20:32, 5 July 2026 | Updated: 20:34, 5 July 2026 A six-year-old girl drowned after wading in too far from a beach during a family Fourth of July holiday. Kiara Paolasin was in Southampton, on Long Island, New York, about 8am on Saturday after her family made the trip from Brooklyn. The little girl was paddling around in Sebonac Creek and was swept away by a strong current and dragged into the Great Peconic Bay. A 16-year-old relative tried to rescue her but couldn't reach Kiara because the current was too strong. The family was able to flag down a passing kayaker who pulled her from the water and paddled her back to shore where paramedics were waiting. Kiara Paolasin was in Southampton, on Long Island, New York, about 8am on Saturday after her family made the trip from Brooklyn The little girl was paddling around in Sebonac Creek and was swept away by a strong current and dragged into the Great Peconic Bay But by then it was too late and Kiara had already drowned. She was declared dead after being taken to Stony Brook Southampton Hospital. Police are investigating the drowning and an official cause of death will be determined by the medical examiner. Kiara's family was one of thousands who flocked to the Hamptons for the Independence Day long weekend. As New York City and much of the northwest endured a heatwave with storms and temperatures of more than 100F, many fled to the Long Island beaches.  The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.