3 people drown in rip currents at North Carolina beaches

Dangerous rip currents proved deadly on Saturday as three people drowned at beaches in North Carolina.

Two of the deaths happened at different beaches in Brunswick County, while a third happened just miles north in New Hanover County. Brunswick County is located in southern North Carolina on the border with South Carolina and just across the state line from popular tourist spot Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

A 20-year-old man died after being swept away by a rip current off Sunset Beach at about 2 p.m. Saturday, according to Raleigh ABC affiliate WTVD. Beachgoers had already begun performing CPR on the man before emergency responders arrived.

He was taken to Novant Brunswick Medical Center in Bolivia, where he was pronounced dead.

Another man, about 40 years old, drowned at Holden Beach -- about 25 miles up the shore -- while trying to help someone get free from a rip current, officials told WTVD. The other person was safely brought to shore.

A third swimmer died at Wrightsville Beach in neighboring New Hanover County, which includes Wilmington, at 11 a.m. on Saturday, according to the Wilmington Star News. Lifeguards pulled the man out of the ocean, but he was already not breathing, Wrightsville Beach Fire Chief Glen Rogers told the paper.

There was a moderate rip current warning in place for most of the coast of North Carolina over the weekend.