POWELL, Ohio (WSYX) — Four Honduran citizens, including two married couples, were among five adults who drowned in the Scioto River over the weekend while trying to rescue one another from fast-moving water, authorities told The Associated Press.
AP reports that the drowned included 33-year-old Jose Mario Pineda Dias and his 28-year-old wife, Marina Suyapa Regalado. Two other victims, Miguel Angel Guerra and Carmen Idalia Lara Ferrera have also been identified by Honduran officials. The identity of the final victim has not yet been released.
The group had gathered for a day of fishing near the O’Shaughnessy Reservoir near Powell, about 15 miles north of Columbus. According to Delaware County Sheriff Jeffrey Balzer, one adult got caught in the current and four others jumped in to help, but all five were swept away.
Two young children, ages 8 and 10, survived. A passing driver spotted one of the boys running toward a nearby road in a towel, screaming for his mother, and called 911. The children are now in state care while officials work to reunite them with family in Honduras.
Search crews recovered two bodies on Sunday and the remaining three on Monday.
Relatives of Dias and Regalado have started an online fundraiser to help support the orphaned children and cover funeral costs.
