Three men were drowned after saving a boy caught in a torrent in a river in California, officials said.
The eight-year-old boy was swept into an ocean current near Three Mileslau, a popular swimming pool in Sacramento County, said Brandon Wilson, commander of the Rio Vista Fire Department.
He was unharmed and pulled out of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, but five relatives jumped in after being pulled into the water to save him, Wilson said.
"They saw them go down, but never saw them come back."
The deceased family was Edwin Revas, Identified as Edwin Perez and Danilo Solorusano.
"This happened so fast, three, my friends ... and we were always here," Juan Cabreratold KCRA.
Cabrera was one of five men who jumped in to save the boy, but only two returned to the shore.
"My heart is broken," said Elmar Rodriguez, a family friend.
"It seems calm, but the undertoe and flow in the area is pretty bad," he said.
Officials said the search and rescue mission for the missing swimmer had turned into a recovery effort by the evening.
"This is an unprotected beach, so there are no guards on duty. It's mainly a fishing spot from an unregulated trail in a state park. This is unprotected water, at the time. The water was moving, said Paul Whistler, captain of California State Park.
The family is a state park that is often full of swimmers on the weekend of Independence Day. I was swimming near the Brannan Island State Recreation Area.
"What I've done so far is to collect life jackets and put them back on the board in the swimming area," Wilson said. increase.
"You have to go and replenish every weekend."
However, the park's campsite and management company, American Land & Leisure, has terminated its contract with California. Later, the practice ended when the park was closed in April.
When resuming on the weekend starting in June, boaters were able to return to the shore and swimmers also came.
"There was more area to swim backwards, much calmer," Wilson said.
"Now people are basically just finding the area and submerged in the water, probably unaware of how deep it is."
Sacramento County Sheriff Sgt Rod Grassman, a spokesman for the office, said the child does not need treatment.
"The agent searched the waterway and gave negative results," he said. "After exhausting all the search work, the agent moved the focus to recovery."
According to the United States Coast Guard, the recovery mission continues all night.
