6 teens drown in Louisiana river; 7th rescued

[Dark Knight]

SHREVEPORT, La. – Six teenagers from at least two families drowned in the Red River in northwest Louisiana after they stepped off a ledge from shallow water into a chasm about 20 feet deep on Monday.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100803/...rown_louisiana

May they all RIP forever, and may the Lord comfort those left behind, in Jesus' Name, amen.

[mysterygirl]

Oh no............none of them could swim!!!

[lizzybeth]

Thank you for posting this. I just heard a snippet as I was walking out the door this a.m. This is just heartbreaking. Praying for the families and loved ones of those lost.

Nearly 60% of African-American children can't swim, almost twice the figure for white children, according to a first-of-its-kind survey which USA Swimming hopes will strengthen its efforts to lower minority drowning rates and draw more blacks into the sport.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/...norities_N.htm

I'd like to see more programs for children to learn to swim. I can't swim but I made sure my kids learned. They're not great but they might could save themselves if something like this happened. I know they were scared once they realized they were in deeper water and most likely panicked. Those poor babies didn't have a chance after stepping off that ledge.

[TigressPen]

This is incredibly sad and my condolences go out to the families of the deceased children. I am glad the reacreational park is adding more barriers - Drop-offs at sandbars can be extremely dangerous.

[Mr. E]

I agree with more programs to teach kids to swim. My mother made sure all us kids had lessons, and my sister and I both made sure our kids were taught. It's weird, though...when we lived in South Dakota, my kids, who were elementary aged then, could take lessons in a big indoor heated pool in the winter, and in the summer they could take lessons in the big public outdoor pool. So, lots of opportunities through parks and rec, and it was very inexpensive.

Here in the south, where the weather is milder and many people have pools, I've not seen swim lessons advertised like it was back in the midwest. We are members of the YMCA, and they didn't have any winter lessons at all, even though they have a large indoor pool.

This story is so sad...I really feel for those kids' families. It's just a tragedy.

[believe09]

This is a horrible story-I mean it was clear the potential for this incident was there, but OMG what a terrible terrible story.

[Angels_Not_Forgotten]

oh my goodness! may God be with their families during this hard hard time

[tk71texas]

if i couldn't swim, i wouldn't be anywhere near a natural body of water. My kids grew up on the lake wearing life jackets all the time. When we moved to texas, and used neighborhood pools neither of them could really swim very well due to the fact that they were always in a life jacket on the boat. And always swam with life jackets. They were 10 & 6 then and now 7yrs later, they both swim like fish. It was funny with my 6yr old the pool had a slide and diving board in the deep end and they wouldn't let him wear his life jacket so he would jump and slide close as he could to the ladder until he finally just learned.....hee,hee,hee...it was cute.

RIP to these families.

[Kimberlyd125]

Such a sad story. I can see wading in water if I could not swim. This was just a terrible accident. No one knew there would be a drop off. One minute cooling off in shallow water, the next minute 6 lives are lost. Heartbreaking.
I can't imagine what these families are going through.

Rest In Peace to all those lost. God's comfort to the families.

[elle1919]

My heart goes out to these families. Such a sad tragedy.

[hockeymom]

What a horrific story!! Shouldn't there be lots of signs saying there is a drop off?!!!

[AdoraBlue]

The Red River is well known for its shifting sands and bogs. There is a mostly clay riverbed with the sand silting in on top of that and the dangerous and swift currents undercut the sandbars, continuously changing the shoreline. The sandbars can be very large, are beautiful and appear beach-like, but they are very treacherous, particularly around the waterline.

My thoughts and prayers are with these families and for the souls of these children.

[momtective]

Six teens drown in the Red River
Youths ages 13 to 18 vanish in 18-foot sinkhole

Six teens drowned late Monday after disappearing into a sinkhole on the Red River, leading to a tragedy that Shreveport Fire Chief Brian Crawford called the worst he's ever seen.

Family members told authorities the victims, between the ages of 13 and 18 from three families, didn't know how to swim and were wading in shallow water. They had been in the lake for about 10 minutes near the sandbar at the Charles and Marie Hamel Memorial Park.

They had one life vest.

"One child ventured off into an area that he was unfamiliar with, and some of the other children had gone off with him," Crawford said. "They went into the vicinity of an 18-foot sinkhole. ... And once one started toppling into that sinkhole grabbing a hold of another, trying to save another, eventually seven were pulled into the hole."

A bystander jumped into the water and rescued a 15-year-old, but the other six went under and never resurfaced. The sixth body was recovered nearly three hours later, in water that authorities said was between 18-feet and 25-feet deep.

"Unfortunately, I'm afraid, and it's with a heavy heart, to report that we have pulled so far (six) bodies from the river. ... I can honestly say that in my 26 years of service I've never seen anything of this magnitude. And I hope I never see it again," the fire chief said.

Marilyn Robinson, a friend of the families, watched helplessly as the victims, five males and one female, went under. She said a large group of family and friends, including roughly 20 children, were out at the sandbar to barbecue, swim and have a good time.

They frequent the area and were familiar with the water, Robinson said.

"None of us could swim," the 38-year-old said. "They were yelling 'help me, help me. Somebody please help me.' It was nothing I could do but watch them drown one by one."

more at link http://www.shreveporttimes.com/artic...-the-Red-River

[PaperDoll]

Oh goodness, this breaks my heart. I pray for the families and friends of all who lost a loved one in this tragedy. May God bring them comfort and hold them close to His heart.

[heartfortruth]

thanks for the link , Mom,

Look at that little boy in the blue shirt......it makes may heart hurt.and I want to go pick him up and try to comfort him ........his little face tells it all.........so sad