The young men who died in Seattle s Green Lake late Friday have been identified as Abeney Getachew, 23, of Snohomish County, and Euel Desta, 21, of Shoreline, according to the King County Medical Examiner s office.
Four people were swimming at the east side of the lake at around 9:30 p.m., near Evans Pool, when two of them struggled and sank underwater, . Other witnesses who were swimming in the lake headed out to look for the pair, but couldn t spot them.  A rescue team of firefighters arrived and took 30 minutes to retrieve Getachew, and another 10 minutes to find Desta.
The lake bottom was silty and about 17 feet deep. Visibility was only about 4 feet, said fire department spokesman Kyle Moore. Divers noticed that shallow water near that area suddenly becomes deep, he said.
The accident happened near a buoy 50 yards from shore, a short distance beyond the swimming area.  Drowning was ruled the official cause of death, medical examiners said Monday morning.
In 2002, a University of Washington student who didn t know how to swim drowned near the east shore, unaware of a sudden drop-off, .