Hoover father drowns trying to save daughter at Oak Mountain State Park beach
Hoover resident Amin Nizar Humirani drowned July 17 at Oak Mountain State Park after trying to save his 4-year-old daughter.
Humirani was visiting the beach swimming area with his family when his 4-year-old daughter entered the water and appeared to be in distress. Humirani, 40, went in after her though he could not swim.
Shelby County coroner Diana New said two individuals went in the water to help Humirani, but were unable to help. A third individual entered the water and was able to save Humirani’s daughter, as well as one of the other two individuals. By that time, Humirani had gone under, and they were not able to locate him.
Deputy Fire Chief Blair Sides said the Pelham Fire Department responded to a call about the drowning at around 5:40 p.m. They dispatched their dive team and boat operations unit. A diver was able to locate Humirani’s body within 12 minutes. The team was prepared to send a boat out with side searching sonars, but the diver located Humirani before it became necessary.
Sides said the dive and boat operations unit has been “beefed up” in the past three years as a result of incidents like this one. The department has trained 15 new divers and recently got the sonar boat. Oak Mountain State Park, Sides said, is one of the main places where the dive team is sent out.
“There’s no lifeguard and occasionally people venture out and some of them don’t know how to swim and that’s a recipe for disaster,” he said.
New said Humirani was pronounced dead at 7:50 p.m. He was found about 50 feet from the shore in deep water. She said the water near the shoreline has many different levels. The first drop-off occurs about 15 feet from the shore and should not be dangerous to adults, but might startle a child, New said. The next drop off is 15 feet from the first, where the water drops to six feet deep.
New said typically the coroner’s office handles two to three drownings at Oak Mountain State Park each year. This was the first of the summer.