HILLSDALE, Kan. (AP) — A teenager who recently arrived with his family to the U.S. as refugees from Myanmar has drowned in a lake outside Kansas City.

 

Om Kee Hata drowned Friday while swimming with friends in Hillsdale Lake. Miami County Capt. Mike Talcott says the death was an accident and that the 17-year-old “got tired, went under and didn’t come back up.”

Friends and teachers say Hata arrived in the U.S. last year with his mother and four younger siblings, leaning heavily on soccer and faith. The Christian family fled religious persecution in Myanmar, a predominantly Muslim country.

Hata’s funeral services will be held Saturday. The community has created a GoFundMe page in hopes of raising $20,000 to support his mother and siblings.

————-

MIAMI COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities have identified a teenager who drowned in a swimming accident Friday at a northeast Kansas lake.

The Miami County Sheriff’s Office says in a media release that 17-year-old Om Kee, of Kansas City, Missouri, drowned at Hillsdale Lake.

Just after 3p.m. Friday,  witnesses reported that Kee was swimming at the lake’s swim beach and appeared to be tired before he disappeared under the water.

Rescue teams recovered his body about two hours later. The lake is south of the Kansas City area.