Yosemite Deaths Raise Concern After 10-Year-Old Caught in Current
One boy is dead and another has gone missing after a current in the Merced River of Yosemite National Park dragged both boys away.
A family composed of 15 family members looked on helplessly as the currents of the Merced River dragged their 10-year-old relative to his death. The boy's brother, who is only 6, has been declared missing but is also presumed dead.
The family had decided to rest along the river to cool following a short hiking trail into the park, according to the Associated Press. The 10-year-old boy was pronounced dead at 3 p.m. after traveling 150 feet down the river before he could be rescued.
The boy was dragged to the same spot where last year two other travelers' bodies were discovered months after having disappeared along the river's edge. The bodies were found lodged under boulders - a third traveler who was with the party was also killed.
The boys' mother, who had also been in the water when the incident took place, has been hospitalized with a back injury, according to park spokeswoman, Kari Cobb.
"She went into the river but made it out," Cobb told AP News.
"We've got a low water year this year, and around the banks it's only 8 to 10 inches deep, but once you get out further, we have a swift current and it gets deeper," spokesman Scott Gediman said. "They both got swept away by the current."
The young boys are also not the first to have been taken by the river this year. Two weeks ago a 57-year-old man drowned after being pinned down by a rock. Another person drowned just before, in June. The Mist Trail, which was taken by the boys and their extended family members, remains open.
