NORTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - A day at a park in Northwestern Miami-Dade took a tragic turn after rescue divers pulled two teenage twin brothers from a lake.
Miami-Dade Police and Fire Rescue units responded to the scene of the drowning at Arthur Woodard Park, located along the 1100 block of Northwest 99th Street, Friday afternoon.
7Skyforce hovered over the scene where rescue crews surrounded the area to rescue the 13-year-old boys.
According to MDFR, three divers were in the water searching for the children.
“According to investigators, a group of children were playing near the embankment of the lake of this park behind me, when a teenage child fell in the water,” MDPD detective Luis Sierra said.
Investigators said the victim’s twin brother jumped into the water in an attempt to rescue him.
“Another child that was with the group called 911, had the foresight to call 911 for help, where police and fire rescue responded and were giving the two children CPR when they took him out of the lake,” said Sierra.
Rescuers quickly found one of the teens, but it would take several more minutes for divers to locate his brother.
Area resident Miguel “El Skipper” Quintero said he took out his cellphone and began recording video.
“I start to film, and they’re doing chest compressions on a young man,” he said. “Oh, man, your heart sinks, ’cause I could tell it was a child.”
“Both children were transported to the nearest hospital,” Sierra said. “I’m sad to say that one of the children was pronounced deceased, and the other child is critical but stable.”
But on Friday night, police confirmed the second victim had also succumbed to his injuries.
For hours, witnesses remained at the park talking to detectives.
A witness at the scene told 7News that one of the children had foliage or some sort of plant wrapped around their leg.
7News spoke to witnesses who saw the rescue attempt.
“That lake has a lot of weeds, and they took out the kid, and then that’s when they took him to the hospital,” a witness said.
“They are very upset, very upset,” said a witness. “Kids over there right now, they’re pretty traumatized, you know, trying to regroup.”
“You never want to see that. It’s about as hard as it gets,” said Quintero.
It is unclear whether the children went into the lake on their own, as officials continue to investigate.
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