How sad....God comfort the families
What a needless tragedy this is. These kids should have known how to swim, and if they did not, they should never have gotten into the river. I suspect that these kids were black? The only people that I ever met in the Navy that did not know how to swim were blacks.
From:
http://www.shreveporttimes.com/article/20100802/NEWS01/100802028/UPDATED-4-teens-drown-in-Red-River-search-continues
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UPDATED: 4 teens drown in Red River, search continues
From Staff Reports • August 2, 2010
The death toll has risen to four and emergency crews are searching for two more teenagers believed to have drowned in the Red River this evening.
The six kids, between the ages of 14 and 18 from three families, had been in the water for about 10 minutes near the sandbar at the Charles and Marie Hamel Memorial Park, according to family members, who witnessed the drownings.
Family members told authorities they were at the park off Clyde Fant Parkway in Shreveport, for a gathering. The children, who didn’t know how to swim, were wading in shallow water when the bottom of the river fell from under them.
They had one life jacket.
A bystander jumped in and saved a 15-year-old boy, who has been treated on the scene.
Caddo and Bossier parish emergency crews along with Shreveport and Bossier City police are searching for the teens.
Emergency crews were called to the area off Clyde Fant Parkway at about 6:30 p.m. today.
About 18 emergency units have responded to the scene.
The river has a real soft silty bottom, if it gave way I could see how the swirling current might drown a kid before he could ever get back up.
I would never wade in the Red River,
prayers to the family, may god bless those and keep them who are lost
When young I almost died wading in a Louisiana river myself. There are undercurrents you can’t see or feel until you take a step and drop down several feet at least. I knew how to swim but it kept pulling me under. Thank God my dad, bless his soul, saw what was happening and he jumped in and saved me. Never stepped foot in any river since.
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How tragic. Learning how to swim is so easy and takes such little effort. Prays for the families.
How do you get to be that age, in this country, and not know how to swim?
Prayers Up,,,
That place ain’t too far from me,,,
They call it the “sand bar”,,,
Full of kids all the time when it’s hot,,,
It goes from sand bar to about 30’ very quickly,,,
Bossier Parish SO has two boats there to keep folks close
to the bank so they won’t get run over by the boats,,,
A few weeks ago one of the BPSO guys killed a 12’
alligator at the boat launch on the Bossier side,,,
They may have opened lock # 5 to draw down the high water,,,
Lock closed no current,,,
Lock open bad current,,,
I was told at a young age to keep my ass OUT of that river.
It looks like two families.
“Assistant Fire Chief Fred Sanders says they were playing in the water Monday evening and stepped over a sudden drop-off to 20 feet deep.
Sanders says they were with adults, but none of the group could swim.
He says he believes they were from two families three brothers in one family, and two brothers and a sister in the other.”
Just heard on Fox that 3 (sons) were from one family; 3 (1 daughter, 2 sons) from another. Cannot imagine losing a child, much less 3, nor to have witnessed helplessly their drowning.
RIP.
Here’s a link to the Shreveport Times which is a Gannett paper and must be linked only..... It has some photos and more info about the incident....
http://www.shreveporttimes.com/article/20100803/NEWS01/8030324/6-teens-drown-in-the-Red-River
Who lets a child who can’t swim go into a river much less 6 of them??? Running water and the inability to swim...a stupid combination.