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Posted on 07/20/2026 6:17:44 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
Two women and three men were pulled from the Scioto River, outside Columbus.
Five people died in the Scioto River in central Ohio after one of them went in for a swim on Sunday and began struggling and others tried to rescue the person, the authorities said.
The group had gathered by the river near the O’Shaughnessy Reservoir, just northwest of Columbus, to enjoy a summer evening and to fish, the Delaware County sheriff, Jeffrey Balzer, said at a news conference on Monday.
At some point one person in the group decided to swim, and “that’s when the tragedy started to occur,” Sheriff Balzer said. That person started struggling in the water, he said, and two others went into the river to try to help. Then those two began to struggle, he said, prompting two more people to venture into the river.
At about 9 p.m., a driver noticed a young child who was “clearly distraught,” running alongside a road by the river, Sheriff Balzer said. The driver called 911 and reported that the child had said that his “family was in the river,” Sheriff Balzer said.
Firefighters, police officers and other emergency workers responded and found two adult women in the river; they were taken to hospitals and pronounced dead, Sheriff Balzer said.
Rescue crews continued searching the river until they found the bodies of the remaining three people, all adult men, at about 2 p.m. on Monday, Tracy Whited, a spokeswoman for the sheriff’s office, said in an email.
Sheriff Balzer said the child and another child who had been with the group were in the care of the county’s child welfare agency. The children are 6 and 7 years old.
It was not immediately clear how the people in the group were related, but Sheriff Balzer said...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
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Sounds like something happened in the late afternoon or evening timeframe which often points to poor swimmers and alcohol.
If you are going to swim in a river, it helps to know how to swim.
Some people really underestimate the perils of fast-moving water. I wonder what the river conditions were at the point they chose to swim.
Jeff Buckley was unavailable for comment.
I think it is important for everyone to know how to swim.
I can’t imagine not knowing that. It’s more basic than driving.
I hit a paywall.
Here’s a different link.
Go to the top of my homepage and follow the instructions: https://freerepublic.com/~epluribusunum/index
Certain people have a specific gravity that exceeds unity. I’ll leave it there.
River currents can be treacherous
From your link ...
... Balzer said there a language barrier in communicating with the children, but it’s believed the people went to the river to fish when one person began to swim and others attempted to rescue them....
Ah ha.., thank you .
That area is effectively a small lake. South of the dam is more “river like” and then becomes more like a lake as the river heads the next dam down river.
My guess, alcohol and swimming don’t mix. Sad indeed.
Yea and now two children are with ‘children’s services’ while the county tries to locate their other family members. Unsure where that will be.
X comments is saying the area is a very ‘heavy migrant’ area....as well as the ‘language barrier’ mentioned by the Sheriff.
You don’t swim in rivers here. There are too many alligators, big snapping turtles, and water moccasins that will get you.
Hopefully, they can locate some other family members.
Very sad for these young children.
X comments is saying the area is a very ‘heavy migrant’ area....as well as the ‘language barrier’ mentioned by the Sheriff.
I can hear Neil now.....
“Tin soldiers and Trump is drumming....”
Perhaps illegals? If they were from Mexico, they party hard. I wager they were mostly all drunk.
Very sad and a horror for those children.
On the river north of the Columbus Zoo.
How tragic.
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