An 8-year-old girl died and her 4-year-old brother went missing after they were swept away Sunday in a California river that is closed to recreational users due to high water levels, authorities said.
The brothers were with their mother and her friend in Kings River, according to the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office. They all entered the water off the coast about a mile from Pine Flat Dam, the sheriff’s office said in a statement. statement.
«The group was trying to get to a specific rock to climb when the current carried the children away,» the sheriff’s office said. «They were also not wearing life jackets.»
The children were swept down the river shortly before 2 p.m., according to the statement. Deputies and firefighters from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection responded with rescue boats.
The 8-year-old girl’s body was found less than an hour after the search, and the search for the 4-year-old boy is continuing, the sheriff’s office said. Her names have not been released.
Details about the condition of her mother and her friend were not immediately clear.
Kings River has been closed to recreational users since March 14, according to the statement. The decision to close the Central California River to recreational users was made after severe winter storms and melting snow generated high water levels, making it dangerous. There are multiple closure signs posted along the waterways warning the public to stay out of the water, and refusing to do so carries a minimum fine of $225, the sheriff’s office said.
The Fresno County Sheriff’s Office is warning swimmers that river conditions will worsen in the summer.
«Conditions in our waterways will only get more dangerous heading into summer as snow melts and dams release even more water into rivers. The water remains cold, in the low 50s, the current is fast and the trees serve as dangerous obstacles,» the sheriff’s office said.
The river’s water levels are monitored daily and authorities said it will reopen once dangerous conditions abate.