Two young children have been left without their parents after a devastating drowning incident in Ohio claimed the lives of five people.
José Mario Pineda Díaz, 33, and Marina Suyapa Regalado, 28, a Honduran couple and parents, were among those who died Sunday in the Scioto River in Powell.
The couple’s two children, ages eight and ten, were at the scene when the tragedy unfolded but survived, Honduran officials said.
The children are now being cared for by family services in Ohio while authorities work to reunite them with relatives in Central America.
Another couple, Miguel Ángel Guerra and Carmen Idalia Lara Ferrera, both 33, also lost their lives. A fifth victim has not yet been publicly identified.
The fatal outing began Sunday when the family went to the river to fish with three other adults.
Conditions initially appeared calm, with clear skies following weeks of oppressive heat that had finally broken, bringing what seemed to be a welcome stretch of pleasant weather.
A photo reportedly taken by a passing boater earlier that day appears to show the group standing thigh-deep in the Scioto River, fishing rods in hand, gathered near a large log.
Jose Mario Pineda Dias, 33, and Marina Suyapa Regalado, 28, who were parents from Honduras, were among those who died in the Scioto River in Powell on Sunday
The horror unfolded as the family went fishing in the Scioto River with three more adults
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.
Suyapa Regalado, 28, has been named as one of the victims. Her children are now orphans
Officials have previously said that a group had been fishing in the Scioto River in Powell, Ohio, when one of the adults began to struggle in the water, and the others dove in to help
Water conditions of the river on Sunday were high and fast at almost double the average flow rate, according to data from a US Geological Survey water gauge at a nearby dam
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.
