Two young siblings from California died after they were swept away in a fast-moving, mountainside river in San Bernardino County on Tuesday.
The children, a 4-year-old girl and a 2-year-old boy, were brought by their mother to spend the afternoon by a river near the Thurman Flats Picnic Area, close to the town of Mill Creek.
According to a joint statement from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department and the Yucaipa Police Department, the mother was attending to her son when her daughter was swept downstream by “rapid” waters just after 3 p.m. local time.
The mother searched for her daughter but did not find her. When she returned, police said her son was missing “and assumed to be down river as well.”
Both the young siblings, as well as their mother, have not been identified publicly.
Authorities said the mother searched “frantically” for her children and enlisted the help of another family members.
Their search was unsuccessful.
Around 4 p.m. local time, police, fire and rescue officials joined the effort to find the children. Nearly 40 minutes later, the young girl was found along the river’s edge. About twenty minutes after that, around 5 p.m., the boy was also discovered at the riverbank.
NBC News Los Angeles reported the siblings were found 1.5 miles (about 2.4 kilometres) from the picnic area.
The siblings were quickly brought to the hospital. After “extensive life-saving measures,” police said the children were pronounced dead. The exact cause of death has not yet been released.
A representative from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department told NBC the river’s current on Tuesday afternoon was comparable to a washing machine.
The outlet said the mother was injured in the search for her children, though the nature of her injuries is unclear.
Officials from the San Bernadino Fire Department have warned locals about dangerous river currents in the area, in part due to the melting of significant snowfall brought to the region’s mountains last winter.
The incident remains under police investigation.
