Officials in Morris County say two men drowned at Mine Hill Beach in Mine Hill.

“Last night we had six or seven responding companies, five dive teams. I have to give a thank you to all those guys,” says Mine Hill Mayor Sam Morris.

Morris says that he believes the victims were 17 and 22 years old and from Roxbury Township.

“Went to the back of our lake - on private property and were either wading or splashing around and one went down and the other tried to get them,” Morris says.

He says that other people called 911 to report the emergency. First responders eventually found the bodies of the two men.

The deaths are the latest in a string of drownings since June 1. There have been 10 deaths in the last two weeks – two in a pool, five in the ocean and three in New Jersey lakes.

The advocacy group New Jersey Swim Safety Alliance says 10 is the average number of drownings for an entire year in New Jersey. Except for the two drownings at a Bayonne pool, lifeguards were not present when the drownings occurred.

"I’d just tell people to be extremely careful around the water because the American Red Cross says we are 3,000-6,000 lifeguards short. In this instance, it wouldn’t have helped anyone,” Morris says. “This is bad. We don’t want another one all summer, if there’s any way to help it."

The mayor says that the lifeguard shortage is why Mine Hill Beach is closed to swimming. It normally would have opened for Memorial Day.

The identities of the two men who drowned at Mine Hill Beach have not yet been released.