In the second fatal incident on the south shore of the Vineyard in a week, an Ohio man was pronounced dead on Friday after he was pulled from the water at Abel’s Hill Beach in Chilmark.

William Laidlaw, 66, of Columbus, Ohio, was pronounced dead at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital at 5:28 p.m. Friday. Police, fire, and emergency responders were dispatched to the scene at 4 p.m. after receiving a report of two distressed swimmers. When responders arrived both swimmers were out of the water and one of the beach patrons was performing CPR on Mr. Laidlaw. Following unsuccessful attempts to resuscitate him, Mr. Laidlaw was transported to the Island hospital. The cause of death has not been confirmed yet by the state medical examiner’s office.

Drowning was the cause of death in an incident on August 1 at Quansoo Beach in Chilmark. the victim was Lawrence Shedd, 49, of Danbury, N.H. Mr. Shedd was pulled from rough seas that Saturday afternoon.

Chilmark police chief Brian Cioffi said yesterday that while the two deaths were unfortunate he could not say that they were related in any way. “As we have all known all our lives, swimming at the south shore is dangerous and should always involve extra caution. But were rough seas the cause of these incidents? We cannot say that for sure,” the chief said.

A complete story about the incident at Abel’s Hill Beach will appear in the Tuesday Gazette.