10-Year-Old Boy Dead, 2 Adults Missing After Getting Swept Into Drainage Ditch Following Milwaukee Storms
The body of a 10-year-old boy has been recovered while two adult men remain missing after they were swept into a Milwaukee drainage ditch following severe storms in the area, according to officials.
A 10-year-old boy was playing near the drainage ditch on the 3800 block of S. 25th Street around 6:00 p.m. on Monday when he fell into the water, the Milwaukee Police Department said in a statement obtained by PEOPLE.
A 37-year-old man and a 34-year-old man attempted to rescue the boy, but "all three were carried away by the current," police say, explaining that "the water level was high due to a rainstorm."
Just before noon on Tuesday, authorities recovered the body of the 10-year-old from a nearby river, police said. Family members identified the boy as Mouhammad Arman Rashidullah, who would have turned 11 on July 4, reported CBS station WDJT-TV.
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WDJT-TV reported that that the boy was playing ball with his father on Monday when he wound up in the water. Both his father and a second adult family member jumped into the water, as did a good Samaritan, according to the outlet.
That day, a series of powerful storms hit Milwaukee, flooding streets and knocking out power, according to NBC affiliate WTMJ-TV.
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FOX affiliate WITI shared footage of Monday evening's search efforts along the water, which showed bystanders lining the road that runs above the river as crews executed their plans.
"It was swift water," Assistant Milwaukee Fire Chief DeWayne Smoots said, reported the outlet. "If anybody knows about rapids, the water is fast. You can't control your surroundings, makes it unsafe for anyone to venture in to do any search whatsoever because the water was moving so fast."
The ditch involved in Monday's incident is connected to three tunnels, each of which runs in a westerly direction for about 900 ft., Milwaukee Fire Department chief Chief Aaron Lipski said at a news conference Tuesday morning. Officials were unable to search the tunnels Monday evening due to the "horrendously dangerous" conditions presented by the water.
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The pace at which the water was rushing gave rescuers "no opportunity to conduct some sort of rescue" operation Monday evening, Lipski explained. Any such effort, he added, would have likely resulted in injury or death.
Instead, officials used a drone for their initial search. Crews eventually made their way into the tunnel, but found nothing.
On Tuesday, the recovery operation shifted to the area between 31st and Kinnickinnic Parkway and 30th and Euclid, where another pair of tunnels is located, Lipski said at a second news conference that day.
Crews will also search those tunnels, which Lipski said measure in at 1,900 ft., in hopes of finding the missing people.
