Posted on 08/02/2010 8:20:12 PM PDT by My Favorite Headache
The bodies of four teenagers were pulled from a Louisiana river Monday while authorities continued to search for two more feared drowned, the Shreveport Times reported.
A group of teenagers -- aged between 14 and 18 -- had been in the Red River in Shreveport for about 10 minutes, according to family members who witnessed the drownings.
It was understood the youths, who did not know how to swim, were wading in the river when the bottom of the river fell away underneath them in a sudden drop.
Shreveport TV station KSLA-TV reported that Cindy Chadwick, Public Information Office for Caddo Parish Sheriff's Office, said six teenagers in total are believed to have drowned.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
How sad....God comfort the families
What a needless tragedy this is. These kids should have known how to swim, and if they did not, they should never have gotten into the river. I suspect that these kids were black? The only people that I ever met in the Navy that did not know how to swim were blacks.
A group of Southern teens that don’t know how to swim?
And who would let non swimmers in a river, rivers are incredibly dangerous and challenging, even for strong swimmers.
I was thinking that, but I still feel bad for them.
From:
http://www.shreveporttimes.com/article/20100802/NEWS01/100802028/UPDATED-4-teens-drown-in-Red-River-search-continues
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UPDATED: 4 teens drown in Red River, search continues
From Staff Reports • August 2, 2010
The death toll has risen to four and emergency crews are searching for two more teenagers believed to have drowned in the Red River this evening.
The six kids, between the ages of 14 and 18 from three families, had been in the water for about 10 minutes near the sandbar at the Charles and Marie Hamel Memorial Park, according to family members, who witnessed the drownings.
Family members told authorities they were at the park off Clyde Fant Parkway in Shreveport, for a gathering. The children, who didn’t know how to swim, were wading in shallow water when the bottom of the river fell from under them.
They had one life jacket.
A bystander jumped in and saved a 15-year-old boy, who has been treated on the scene.
Caddo and Bossier parish emergency crews along with Shreveport and Bossier City police are searching for the teens.
Emergency crews were called to the area off Clyde Fant Parkway at about 6:30 p.m. today.
About 18 emergency units have responded to the scene.
The river has a real soft silty bottom, if it gave way I could see how the swirling current might drown a kid before he could ever get back up.
I would never wade in the Red River,
The only people that I ever met in the Navy that did not know how to swim were blacks.
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What????? I don’t know how to swim and I’m not black. Geeze.
prayers to the family, may god bless those and keep them who are lost
It is the same in the army. It is one of the hurdles that makes blacks so rare in special operations units.
When young I almost died wading in a Louisiana river myself. There are undercurrents you can’t see or feel until you take a step and drop down several feet at least. I knew how to swim but it kept pulling me under. Thank God my dad, bless his soul, saw what was happening and he jumped in and saved me. Never stepped foot in any river since.
I did not know that. Not too old to learn something new everyday.
That’s what I was going to say.
I know exactly where this is, I’ve driven by it dozens of times. It’s a riverbank park right near downtown shreveport, popular with joggers, bikers, etc. The temp has been over 100 degrees for several days. The river is low and must have looked deceptively placid and inviting.
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I told him, I will teach you to swim, but you should try something a little less dangerous.
How tragic. Learning how to swim is so easy and takes such little effort. Prays for the families.
You can geeze all you like, but it is a fact that most black kids, or adults for that matter, in the deep south and mid south can't swim. I can't vouch for other parts of the country.
How do you get to be that age, in this country, and not know how to swim?
If you put a life-jacket on me or a ski belt I'm good to go. Snorkeled in Cozumel in a life jacket. Just wasn't going to pass up the experience.
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