Five victims in a mass drowning in an Ohio river that orphaned two young children included two married couples and a teenager after one of the adults started struggling in deep water in the Scioto River and the others went in to try to rescue their friend.
A motorist called 911 after spotting a frightened child who had been with the group and was running on a nearby road calling out “mama,” Delaware County Sheriff Jeffrey Balzer said at a news conference Monday.
A group of at least seven people—two sets of parents, an adult male friend, and two children—were relaxing along the river’s edge around sunset, some of them fishing, when one of the adults ventured into the river to swim, according to Sheriff Jeffrey Balzer.
“I understand that one person got in the river, was struggling in the water, two people went in to try to save them. Those people started to struggle in the river. Now we had two additional go in the water,” Balzer said.
First responders arrived and found two women, who were pronounced dead at a hospital, Balzer said. The bodies of three men were found in the river on Monday, Tracy Whited, a spokesperson for the Delaware County Sheriff’s Department, told The Associated Press.
Marina Suyapa Regalado Miranda, 29, and her husband, Jose Mario Pineda Diaz, 33.
Carmen Idalia Ferrera Lara, 30, and her husband, Miguel Angel Guerra Ruiz, 34, also died.
The fifth, and youngest, victim was 18-year-old Jonathan Gabriel Vargas, according to the sheriff’s office.
“Our hearts go out to the families of the five drowning victims from this past Sunday,” said Sheriff Jeffrey Balzer.
Two children younger than 10 have been placed in the care of family services, the sheriff said, including the child who ran for help.
Two 911 callers reported seeing a child in a towel running along a state highway near the Scioto River, according to audio of the calls obtained by ABC News. “There was a little baby. I think it was like a boy…. He was like screaming, like crying—like, ‘Mama, mama!'”
The river was running high and fast on Sunday, according to data from a U.S. Geological Survey water gauge at the nearby dam. The data shows the water was flowing at a rate of about 350 cubic feet per second on Sunday—more than a fourfold increase over a three-day span, and more than double the average rate.
Marcus L. Martin felt instant trepidation Sunday when he saw five adults wading thigh- and waist-deep in the Scioto River. A frequent boater on the Ohio waterway, the Baptist pastor knew the area where they were standing to be treacherous.
“I just remember being taught that area was kind of dangerous, in the sense of there being steep slopes” and a quick drop-off into the river, he told The Associated Press.
When they returned past the spot about two hours later and saw the group still wading in the river, Martin thought to snap a photo. “I don’t know what it was. I said, I just need to capture this picture,” he said.
He said he attempted to share the picture with both law enforcement and a news reporter at the scene the day after the drownings, but no one seemed interested.
“It’s not unusual, I think, for one person to be struggling in the water, and other people attempt to save him, yet they don’t have the skills to do that, so we end up with multiple deaths,” the sheriff said.
In the viral moment that drew national attention, the group of seven went to the Scioto River near Powell, Ohio, on Sunday evening to relax and fish.
Delaware County Sheriff Jeff Balzer said the group had gathered along the river “to enjoy themselves on a summer evening,” including fishing, when one person entered the water and began to struggle.
When the person started to struggle, two others went in the river to try to save them, but then they also started to struggle, Balzer said.
Two others then went into the water to help, he said, calling the incident a “tragedy.”
All five adults were swept under in the fast-moving river, leaving only the two children on shore.
The government of Honduras said it is working with the U.S. to bring the victims’ bodies home. The repatriation process could take at least a month.