Woman Drowns Trying to Save Boys Swept Down River : Tragedy: The two were being pulled to safety after family’s car landed in icy water in Yosemite. A sister and grandmother survive.
YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. — A woman drowned Saturday after jumping into an icy river to save two young boys who were swept downstream after a car crash, a park spokeswoman said.
The woman’s grandnephews, ages 3 and 5, were missing and presumed dead.
The woman, 44, and the boys were among five members of a Southern California family who were in a car that landed in the Merced River near Bridalveil Falls after an accident on California 140 early Saturday, spokeswoman Kim Tucker said. The boys’ sister, 7, and grandmother, 62, survived.
Witnesses called rangers and tried to rescue the occupants, who had crawled onto the top of the car, Tucker said. Witnesses were using a rope to pull the children to shore when the boys were swept away.
The woman jumped into the river from the car’s roof, but failed to reach the boys. She was pulled from the river by rangers and pronounced dead at Yosemite Medical Clinic, Tucker said.
The girl and grandmother were treated for mild hypothermia at the medical clinic and released.
Air, river and ground crews were searching for the boys in the river, which has been swollen by recent snows.
It was not known how the car landed in the river. The identities of the family members were being withheld.
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