6 Teens Drown in La. River
 

I heard it on NPR this afternoon and I got choked up. :(

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38531828/ns/us_news/

SHREVEPORT, La. — Six teenagers wading in the shallows of a Louisiana river drowned in front of their horrified families after falling into deep water. None of the teens or nearby adults could swim.

Condolences to the family. :( WHY were they playing in a river without being able to swim?? I understand that swimming skills are not widespread among African Americans and it has nothing to do with education, class, etc., but it is SO unsafe!!

I read some of the comment section for that article and I agree that they shouldn't have been playing in the river like that.

Poor kids. :(

I have to echo the same sentiments...you hear warnings all of the time, if you cant swim and dont know about the water you are in..dont get in it.


Not one but SIX and NONE could swim?

I have to apologize to you all but this sounds like a Darwin

Darwins are funny. This is not.

I really wasn't trying to be funny.

The fact that it was 6 is why the police are trying to figure out whether one of them was falling and knocked the rest down; or they all died trying to rescue each other.

This is just horrific and terrifying. NONE of the adults and NONE of the children could swim. That says "don't go near this damn water" to ME. Couple that with the fact that such large bodies of water tend to be uncontrolled. They can seem calm on the surface and like you can walk through and even touch the bottom but there IS pressure under the surface and there ARE sink holes. NPR said these kids fell through an 18 foot sink hole.

That's my tangent. I'm mortified, angry, and alladat. Such a pointless tragedy.

I didn't think you were.

Part of my response to this is that an acquaintance from middle school drowned in a river about a week before his graduation in the late 1980s. He was with his bestfriend who relayed to us what happened. The water was really calm and they were walking through it and touching the bottom with their feet. Suddenly the river got deeper and the water was rough below the surface. He was swept away in front of his best friend and other people. A man was able to rescue his best friend. It took them a week to find his body washed up on the land.

They could swim very well but the water is unforgiving and they didn't have life vests.

:(

I recommend wearing life vests even when you can swim well.

I wouldn't walk across most rivers, and I used to be on swim team.

I heard an interview with Cullen Jones on NPR on this topic - found this:
http://www.stltoday.com/lifestyles/h...298524c76.html

The death of the 6 makes my heart hurt.