Hawaii Tide Pools Claim Girl, Dad Trying to Save Her

Mark Hornor, 46, and his daughter Mina. (Photo of Twitter web post)

By Clyde Hughes | Thursday, 21 July 2016 07:54 AM EDT

A Hawaii tide pool and rough surf claimed the lives of a 6-year-old girl and her dad who tried to save her, reported the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.

Authorities said Mina Hornor was knocked into the water by a wave while at Makapuu Tide Pools about 11:20 a.m. on Saturday. She was walking along the pools' rocky shoreline with her family when she was hit by the wave, noted the Star-Advertiser.

Shayne Enright, spokeswoman for the Honolulu Department of Emergency Services, said her father, Mark Hornor, 46, appeared to have jumped in to save his daughter.

Lifeguards riding personal watercraft found Mark Hornor and then Mina Hornor unresponsive in the water and transported him to Sandy Beach before taking them to a hospital in critical condition.

KNTV reported that both died later Saturday at the hospital. Both were from Berkeley, California.

Matthew Hornor, Mark Hornor's brother, told the television station he believed lifeguards took too long getting to the scene to save his relatives.

"I think (Mark Hornor) just died of exhaustion, trying to get to her," Matthew Hornor told KNTV. "In those critical moments, if they would have been closer, (it could have been a) totally different story for both of them."

Matthew Hornor said Mark Hornor's oldest daughters, ages 8 and 12, were helped by a stranger at the tide pool who saw them "clinging to rocks," reported KNTV.

KHON-TV identified the man at Scott Kato, who told the television station that he reacted on instinct.

"I'm a father," Kato told KHON-TV. "I have sons, and I mean, I kind of knew they were in there because at that point, there was another couple groups that were there. Some people just got out so I just kind of knew that it was a family in there, so I just kind of jumped in."

Enright said it was a windy day at the tide pool along with rough surf at the time of the accident.

"Definitely on a day like (Saturday), it wasn't for families down there, (and) the conditions were not favorable for anybody to be down there," Enright told KHON-TV.

"Kids, adults, it's too windy there … It's just best to not even go down into those areas. This whole point from China Walls all the way to Makapuu Tide Pools is extremely dangerous," Enright added.