Deeman3
08-03-2010, 12:28 PM
SHREVEPORT, La. — Six teenagers from at least two families drowned in the Red River in northwest Louisiana after they stepped off a ledge from shallow water into a 18-foot sinkhole Monday, fire officials said.
Shreveport Fire Chief Brian Crawford told the Shreveport Times that the victims, aged 13 to 18, had drowned while trying to save each other. Only one, a 14-year-old, was rescued.
Emergency crews on both sides of the river responded to reports of a single person drowning before 6:30 p.m., just south of the area in Charles and Marie Hamel Memorial Park. It took fire officials about 10 minutes to locate the sinkhole, and that's when they learned there were multiple victims.
Dive teams from Shreveport and Bossier fire departments, as well as members of the Caddo Parish sheriff's office, searched the water about an hour before recovering the first body. By 10:30 p.m., all the bodies were recovered.
None could swim
Marilyn Robinson, a friend of the families, watched helplessly as the children, five boys and a girl, went under, the Times reported.
"None of us could swim," the 38-year-old told the newspaper. "They were yelling 'help me, help me. Somebody please help me.' It was nothing I could do but watch them drown one by one."
With tears rolling down her face, Louise Edwards, another witness, added: "It was hard watching them and not being able to help. Some people tried to jump in, but they were already gone. It's like a nightmare. Lord please help us, please."
<span style="color: #FF0000">What a human tragedy! 6 young people drowned just out having a little fun on the weekend with their family.
What shocked me was the comments by the people reading this story, some blaming the kids and parents because they could not swim. Some ranting about how easy it is to learn to swim all the way to many just truning it into a race issue. How disgusting for us if this is now the human condition. How can you not feel for the tragic loss of life.
The real part of the story was that one child fell in and all the others, one-by-one, not knowing how to swim, jumped in and made a heroic effort to save the others, the one who originally fell in being the only survivor. How tough is this for him?
Two families, forever haunted by this and the guilt the adults must feel, not being able to swim or help?
I have had as much venom for those who fall short as a culture or when i see a collective failure of people but how can your hearet not be touched by the self-sacrifice these young kids tried, in vain, to help their brothers and sisters?
I pray for these kids, their familes and especially for those who would use this as a chance to belittle them or their sad, sad situation right now. Surely we are better than that.
God bless them all and may He give them strength.
It could be any of our families. </span>
Shreveport Fire Chief Brian Crawford told the Shreveport Times that the victims, aged 13 to 18, had drowned while trying to save each other. Only one, a 14-year-old, was rescued.
Emergency crews on both sides of the river responded to reports of a single person drowning before 6:30 p.m., just south of the area in Charles and Marie Hamel Memorial Park. It took fire officials about 10 minutes to locate the sinkhole, and that's when they learned there were multiple victims.
Dive teams from Shreveport and Bossier fire departments, as well as members of the Caddo Parish sheriff's office, searched the water about an hour before recovering the first body. By 10:30 p.m., all the bodies were recovered.
None could swim
Marilyn Robinson, a friend of the families, watched helplessly as the children, five boys and a girl, went under, the Times reported.
"None of us could swim," the 38-year-old told the newspaper. "They were yelling 'help me, help me. Somebody please help me.' It was nothing I could do but watch them drown one by one."
With tears rolling down her face, Louise Edwards, another witness, added: "It was hard watching them and not being able to help. Some people tried to jump in, but they were already gone. It's like a nightmare. Lord please help us, please."
<span style="color: #FF0000">What a human tragedy! 6 young people drowned just out having a little fun on the weekend with their family.
What shocked me was the comments by the people reading this story, some blaming the kids and parents because they could not swim. Some ranting about how easy it is to learn to swim all the way to many just truning it into a race issue. How disgusting for us if this is now the human condition. How can you not feel for the tragic loss of life.
The real part of the story was that one child fell in and all the others, one-by-one, not knowing how to swim, jumped in and made a heroic effort to save the others, the one who originally fell in being the only survivor. How tough is this for him?
Two families, forever haunted by this and the guilt the adults must feel, not being able to swim or help?
I have had as much venom for those who fall short as a culture or when i see a collective failure of people but how can your hearet not be touched by the self-sacrifice these young kids tried, in vain, to help their brothers and sisters?
I pray for these kids, their familes and especially for those who would use this as a chance to belittle them or their sad, sad situation right now. Surely we are better than that.
God bless them all and may He give them strength.
It could be any of our families. </span>