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Victim's Mother Issues Warning After Multiple Young People Die In Pa. Quarries

EDISON, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- They are enticing spots to cool off on a hot day, but quarries in eastern Pennsylvania are proving a deadly attraction for young people from New Jersey.

As CBS2's Tony Aiello reported, three people have died in quarries in the last year, including one this weekend.

Sally Yabra lost her son in the quarries, and found a calling to educate young people of the dangers just below the enticing surface of abandoned rock quarries.

"It's beautiful, it's breathtaking, it's amazing, and it's dangerously deadly," Yabra said.

Three young New Jersey men have died in two eastern Pennsylvania quarries – in Mount Bethel and Bangor – in the space of a year. Andrew Grennan of Howell died this past weekend, Jeremias Guzman of Ridgefield in June 2015, and Jonathan Baksh last August.

Baksh was Yabra's firstborn child. Weeks before he died, he posted an Instagram video of himself jumping into the water.

"It has been 11 months of pain," Yabra said. "We will never be able to see Jon again."

Experts said quarry slopes and ledges can be very slippery – increasing the likelihood of accidental falls.

There is often concealed debris under the water surface, and quarries are notorious for pockets of extremely cold water that can cripple swimmers with cramps.

Yabra now shares education material with schools and park districts. She worries about the thousands of young New Jerseyans who visit the quarries each summer.

"Educating the public about quarry safety is fundamental," she said. "They need to know. They need to teach their kids."

Yabra hopes families can learn from her loss, and heed the warning she posted at the quarry where her son died.

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