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SEASIDE HEIGHTS – One man is dead after a wave may have broken his neck in the surf off the Fremont Avenue beach in the borough on Saturday evening, Police Chief Tommy Boyd said Saturday.

The incident took place after 7 p.m. as the 40-year-old victim’s wife and five-year-old son were watching him in the water from the beach, Boyd said.

Eyewitnesses on the Sky Ride along the Boardwalk noticed the man’s body in the ocean, according to the chief of police.

Several Seaside Heights police officers raced to the scene and jumped into the violent surf in an effort to rescue the man, Boyd noted.

“Three or four patrolmen went into the water to pull him out,” he said.

There was no sign at any time that the man was in distress prior to his death and the initial thought based on that and other observations from the scene, is that the victim may have been incapacitated by a wave. If a wave hits a bather at a certain angle, it can cause such a fatal injury, the chief said.

No other details about the incident were immediately available. Officers were still at the scene late Saturday night.

Earlier in the evening, the Long Beach Township Police Department – about 10 miles to the south on Long Beach Island – issued an advisory to the public to keep out of the surf. The sea has become increasingly rough due to conditions caused by Tropical Storm Florence churning off the Southeast coast of the United States.

Watch the video above to see some of the devastation from now-Tropical Storm Florence.

This is a developing story. Stay with app.com for updates.

Erik Larsen: 732-682-9359 or elarsen@gannettnj.com