Officials planned to hold a news conference Tuesday to release more details about the deaths of the six, who drowned Monday in the Red River in a popular recreational area where sand bars gave way to 20-foot depths. A seventh teen, a 14-year-old, was rescued.
"They had one lifejacket here. As you can imagine, everybody started yelling for help. Nobody could swim," said Caddo Parish sheriff's spokeswoman Cindy Chadwick.
Shreveport Assistant Fire Chief Fred Sanders said he believed the victims, ages 13 to 18, included three brothers from one family and a sister and two brothers from another.
"They were out here with some adults. But unfortunately, neither the children nor the adults could swim," he said.
Sanders said names may be released Tuesday, after the department is sure relatives have been notified.
The teens had started playing in a familiar area but ended up at a spot in the river where the bottom fell suddenly and that's where divers found the bodies, Sanders said.
Marilyn Robinson, a friend of the families, told The Times of Shreveport she watched helplessly as the victims went under. She said a large group of family and friends, including roughly 20 children, were out at the sandbar to barbecue and have a good time. They frequent the area and were familiar with the water, Robinson said.
"None of us could swim," she 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."
Parents...PLEASE teach your children how to swim. This tragedy could have been prevented/stopped/had a very different outcome had just ONE person present knew how to swim. If you don't have a pool in your back yard, as so many of us do not, get your children to a summer camp, a YMCA/YWCA swimming class or use your local school swimming program to teach your children how to swim.
If just ONE person present knew how to swim...lives, maybe all of these lives, could have been saved.
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