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Church Pastor's Death In Fairfield Ruled Accidental

FAIRFIELD, N.J. (AP) - Investigators say the death of a church pastor who drowned in a northern New Jersey hotel pool this weekend appears to have been an accident.

But further testing will be done to see if medical issues contributed to the death of Charles Ahia, a 51-year-old Irvington resident who died early Saturday.

The Star-Ledger reports Ahia was a pastor with the World Outreach Church, which was holding a weekend retreat at the hotel in Fairfield.

Authorities say Ahia entered the pool with another church member around 7 a.m. and inadvertently moved toward the deep end. The other church member then ran to the front desk for help.

Another hotel guest got Ahia out of the water and he was taken to a hospital, where he died a short time later.

(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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