Tragedy struck during a birthday celebration on Monday as two young boys tragically lost their lives in a devastating incident near a dam in Oklahoma.
The incident occurred at Lake Overholser, located outside Oklahoma City, where four boys, who were commemorating a birthday, engaged in swimming and fishing activities on July 10.
According to KWTV News, the boys entered the water after a lost shoe prompted their response. However, the powerful current overwhelmed them, sweeping all four boys away, resulting in the heartbreaking loss of two lives.
When emergency responders arrived on the scene, they found two boys, described only as teenagers, clinging to a concrete barrier on the spillway, KFOR News reported. After safely bringing the two teens to shore with a water-rescue team, police deployed a dive team to find the others, described only as two boys aged 10- and 11-years old, according to KWTV.
Officials located the body of one of the boys at approximately 9 p.m. while the other was found hours later around 1 a.m., KFOR reported. Fire officials noted that with the water gates open, the current around the spillway is “extremely strong” and the boys weren’t very far in when they were pulled under. “With these heavy rainfalls, swift water can take you downstream [and] underwater in just a matter of seconds,” Oklahoma City Fire Department Captain Scott Douglas stated, according to the outlet.
“This is just a tragic situation [and] we hate it for the parents. These four boys were just down here trying to have a good time [and] unfortunately they were just treading on dangerous grounds,” Douglas continued.
