POWELL, Ohio — A day at the river ended in tragedy for a group in the Columbus suburb of Powell, Ohio, where five people lost their lives Sunday after several jumped into the Scioto River in an attempt to rescue someone who was having trouble staying afloat, authorities announced Monday.
Delaware County Sheriff Jeffrey Balzer told reporters that emergency dispatchers received a 911 call from a motorist who spotted a frightened child running along a road near the river. That child had been part of the group gathered at the water’s edge.
Two children, both under the age of 10, have since been placed in the care of family services, Sheriff Balzer said. One of those children was the youngster who fled the scene to seek help.
The group had come together along the Scioto River on Sunday when one person waded in to swim. “And that’s when the tragedy started to occur,” Balzer said, explaining that others who leapt into the water to help that person also began to struggle.
Search and rescue teams working the river Sunday recovered two women, both of whom were later pronounced dead at a hospital, according to Balzer. On Monday, crews located the bodies of three men in the river, said Tracy Whited, a spokesperson for the Delaware County Sheriff’s Department.
The fatal incident comes just two days after a separate tragedy in southern Utah, where five members of a single family were killed when a flash flood tore through canyons while they were on a hiking trip.
