Five people die trying to save struggling swimmer

Five people have died in a river in Ohio. The group is thought to have drowned after trying to save one person who went for a swim and got into trouble in the Scioto River on Sunday. Authorities said on Monday that they found two women in the water on Sunday who were later pronounced dead in the hospital. The bodies of three men were found the following day. The Guardian reports that authorities were alerted when a motorist found a distraught child on a nearby road. That child and a second youngster, both under the age of 10, have been placed in family services following the incident. Delaware County Sheriff Jeffrey Balzer said the incident occurred in Powell, a suburb of the city of Columbus, and began when one of the group got into the water to swim. “And that’s when the tragedy started to occur,” he said, according to the Guardian, adding that the rest of the group leaped in to help but then also got into trouble.

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