Watch as dive teams search for bodies along the Scioto River
Multiple emergency agencies searched the Scioto River on July 19 and rescued two people, but at least two more were missing overnight.
Two Honduran couples were among the five people who drowned in an Ohio river, Honduran authorities announced on July 21, and authorities are working to identify the remaining victims and arrange for the return of their bodies.
Flavia Zamora, head of consular affairs at the Honduran Ministry of Foreign Affairs, identified two of the victims as Jose Mario Pineda Díaz, 33, and his wife, Marina Suyapa Regalado Miranda, 29. A second couple from Honduras also died in the incident, but authorities are awaiting official confirmation of their identities.
The fifth victim was a Salvadoran national, Zamora said at a July 21 press conference.
The five victims drowned on July 19 along O’Shaughnessy Reservoir in the Scioto River, according to the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office. They were part of a group that had gathered in the area to fish and “enjoy a summer night,” said Delaware County Sheriff Jeffrey Balzer.
Investigators believe one person went into the water to swim and began struggling, the sheriff said. Two others entered the river to help, but they too “started struggling in the river,” Balzer added. Two more people then entered the water, apparently in a rescue operation.
“That’s when the tragedy started to happen. Up to five people may have entered the river,” Balzer said at a July 20 press conference.
The Scioto River is a river that flows through south central Ohio. O’Shaughnessy Reservoir Area is located in Powell, a suburb of the state capital, Columbus.
Distraught child in Ohio river warns driver to warn family
Balzer said a preliminary investigation revealed the group may have consisted of two sets of parents, two children and at least one additional person.
Zamora confirmed that the group was in the river on the afternoon of July 19 and that two men went into the river to help someone who was struggling to swim. The wives then went into the river to help, but all five drowned.
Balzer previously said that just after 9 p.m. local time on July 19, a motorist spotted a distraught child running on State Route 257 near O’Shaughnessy Reservoir and called 911. The child told the driver that his family was in the river.
First responders rushed to the scene and pulled the two women from the water, Balzer said. They were transported to an area hospital where they were pronounced dead. Recovery teams resumed the search on July 20, and later discovered the bodies of three men.
The children on the beach were under the age of 10, and a language barrier made it difficult for authorities to get information from most of them, the sheriff said. The children were placed in the custody of Delaware County Employment and Family Services.
Honduran officials: repatriation efforts underway
Zamora said Honduran authorities have contacted the victims’ relatives and are working with U.S. authorities to repatriate the victims’ bodies. The deportation process could take at least a month.
“We are already in contact with their relatives and explaining the process they have to follow for repatriation procedures,” she said at a press conference.
Diaz’s relatives in the United States are helping with arrangements, Zamora said.
Brenda Raya, who identified herself as a relative of the victim, started a GoFundMe campaign to cover funeral and transportation costs and support two children orphaned in the tragedy, the Associated Press reported. Raya said her children are 8 and 10 years old, according to the Associated Press.
Contributor: Bailey Galion, USA TODAY Network
