California authorities are leading a rescue mission of three men who jumped into the water to save a child and never returned to the surface.
The three men, Edwin Rivas, Edwin Perez and Danilo Solorzano, and two others jumped into the water Sunday near the Three Mile Slough Bridge to help an 8-year-old boy, who began fighting in the water while the group fishing, NBC. reported the Sacramento KCRA subsidiary.
The other two men returned to shore and took the boy to a safe place, the station reported, adding that the boy did not need medical attention.
“This happened so fast. Three people, my friends … and we come here all the time,” Juan Cabrera, one of the two men, told KCRA.
The men and the boy were part of an overnight camping group in the state recreational area on Brannan Island, family members said at the scene.
The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office, Coast Guard, Rio Vista Fire Department and California State Parks responded.
As of Sunday night, the search had become a recovery mission, KCRA reported.
“Deputies searched the waterways with negative results,” the sergeant said. Rod Grassman, spokesman for the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office. “After exhausting all search efforts, MPs focused on recovery.”
A California state parks official told KCRA that strong currents in the Sacramento San Joaquin River Delta and weather conditions were to blame.
“This is an unguarded bathing beach, so we don’t have lifeguards on duty. It’s mostly a fishing access from an unregulated trail in the state park. … That’s … unprotected water, so the water was moving at that moment, ”Captain Paul Wissler told KCRA.
The Brannan Island website notes that it offers “many recreational opportunities, including sailing and swimming.”
Jorge Moreno, a California state parks information officer, told NBC News that the department recommends that people wear Coast Guard-approved life jackets, monitor children, and avoid entering the water if it’s too cold when it recreates itself in its parks.