Five people have died in the Scioto River in Powell, Ohio, after a group entered the water to rescue a struggling swimmer. The incident began Sunday when one person went into the river to swim and subsequently began to struggle.
Others in the group entered the water in an attempt to provide assistance, but they too began to struggle. A motorist alerted authorities by calling 911 after witnessing a distressed child, who had been part of the group, running on a nearby road. This child and another under the age of 10 have been placed in the care of family services.
Rescue crews searched the river on Sunday and located the bodies of two women. They were pronounced dead at a local hospital. On Monday, the bodies of three men were recovered from the river, according to a spokesperson for the Delaware County Sheriff’s Department.
The incident occurred just two days after a separate tragedy in southern Utah, where five members of a family died during a hiking trip when a flash flood swept through canyons.