Two young children orphaned as first victims of Ohio drowning tragedy that saw five die are named

Two young children have been orphaned as a result of the horrific drowning tragedy which killed five people in Ohio. 

José Mario Pineda Díaz, 33, and Marina Suyapa Regalado, 28, who were parents from Honduras, were among those who died in the Scioto River in Powell on Sunday. 

Dias and Regalado shared two children together, aged eight and ten, who were also at the scene of the horror but survived, according to Honduran authorities. 

Their orphaned children are now in the care of Ohio family services until they can be reunited with relatives in Central America. 

Another couple, Miguel Ángel Guerra and Carmen Idalia Lara Ferrera, both 33, also died in the tragedy. The fifth casualty has not been named. 

The horror unfolded on Sunday, when the family went fishing in the river with three more adults. 

At first, the skies were clear after sweltering heat which had persisted for weeks finally abated, giving way to the first day of pleasant weather. 

A photograph taken by a passing boater sometime Sunday apparently shows the group about thigh-deep in the Scioto River, fishing poles in hand, standing around a big log. 

Calm as the surface appeared, the river was running high and fast, according to US Geological Survey data. 

After the photo was taken, if it was indeed them, the group might have returned to shore. It is not quite clear. 

Delaware County Sheriff Jeffrey Balzer said that one of the adults began struggling to swim in the river when several others went into the water to help. All five adults were swept under, he said.

The two women's bodies were recovered Sunday and the three men's bodies were found Monday.

On Tuesday, Honduran authorities confirmed that four of the five adults were Honduran citizens – Dias and Regalado and another married couple whose names have not yet been released. The fifth adult is yet to be identified.

Flabia Zamora, director of consular affairs at the Honduran Foreign Ministry, told reporters Tuesday that they were working with US authorities to bring their bodies home.

Zamora said that once US officials have identified all the victims, Honduras will start the repatriation process, which could take at least a month.

She said the couple's children are in the care of the state of Ohio and that arrangements will be made to reunite them with relatives in Honduras.

One of the children, a boy wrapped only in a towel, fled the riverbank in a panic and ascended to the road as the adults were drowning. 

According to a passing driver who called 911, 'He was screaming, 'Mama! Mama!' and he was about to come out onto the road, and he was crying.' 

She said she was afraid he was headed onto a multilane road that snakes along the Scioto's eastern banks.

Brenda Raya, who described herself as a relative, launched a GoFundMe campaign to cover funeral and transportation costs, as well as childcare costs for the two orphaned children, according to the Associated Press.

The river where the tragedy unfolded was flowing at a rate of 350 cubic feet per second on Sunday – more than double the average rate, data from a water gauge at a nearby dam showed.