The body of a 10-year-old girl was found on Friday in the Passaic River, New Jersey, two days after her disappearance. The child was dragged into the water with a 10-year-old boy and his sister, 11 years old. The lifeless body of the child was found the same day, while the sister was miraculously survived.
The discovery took place shortly after 18.30, near the Market Street Bridge, after a couple had seen something in the river from the window of their apartment and called 911. The police then confirmed it was the baby.
The incident occurred on Wednesday evening in Passaic, in the area of the Dundee Island Park boat ramp. The three children, who attended the same elementary school in Garfield, on the other side of the river, were playing near the shore when they ended up in the water. It is not yet clear whether they have accidentally fallen or entered the river of their own initiative.
Previous days had rained a lot and the river level was higher than usual. The mayor of Passaic, Hector Lora, said that the current was particularly strong and that at that point the water reached a depth of about 15 feet, little more than four meters.
A man had tried to reach the children by entering the river, but he had to stop the attempt when the water had come to his chest and the current had begun to push him away. The 11-year-old had managed to reach the shore. According to the mayor, her brother had pushed her through some rocks while being dragged under water, allowing her to climb and rescue.
The body of the child had been recovered on Wednesday evening, some hours after the accident, about 15 meters from the point where the three had entered the river. To find the child, the rescuers had to look for a stretch of about 14 kilometers, between Passaic and Newark, using boats, divers, sonar, drones and dogs trained in search of people. With the passing of hours, the intervention had been defined by the authorities a recovery operation and no more relief.
Friday, when the teams were about to finish the research of the day, the sighting and reporting. The rescuers arrived in a few minutes and recovered the body just south of the bridge, in the Wallington area.
On the bridge near the place of the accident, a memorial was set up with flowers, tickets and plush animals. The authorities did not spread the names of the two dead children. The investigation to accurately reconstruct how they ended up in the river is still underway.
L’articolo Found the body of the missing 10-year-old girl in the Passaic River proviene da IlNewyorkese.
