{"success":true,"data":{"id":"733289ee-f422-4a03-91ca-6af4c6c09aaf","title":"5 dead after attempt to help struggling swimmer turns into 'tragedy': Sheriff","summary":"Interest Successfully Added We'll notify you here with news about Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? - [x] Off On 5 dead after attempt to help struggling swimmer in Ohio river turns into 'tragedy': Sheriff The victims included two women and three men, authorities said...","content":"Interest Successfully Added\n\nWe'll notify you here with news about\n\nTurn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? \n\n- [x] Off On \n\n# 5 dead after attempt to help struggling swimmer in Ohio river turns into 'tragedy': Sheriff\n\nThe victims included two women and three men, authorities said.\n\nBy[Meredith Deliso](https://abcnews.com/author/meredith_deliso)\n\nJuly 21, 2026, 9:55 AM\n\n1:32\n\nTropical Storm Bertha takes aim at Gulf Coast A tropical depression that formed over the weekend strengthened into Tropical Storm Bertha, the National Hurricane Center said Monday night.\n\nFive people are dead after several adults entered a river in Ohio to help a struggling swimmer, authorities said.\n\nA search and rescue effort unfolded Sunday night, when a motorist noticed a \"clearly distraught\" child running along a state highway near the Scioto River, according to Delaware County Sheriff Jeffrey Balzer.\n\n\"The child said that his family was in the river,\" Balzer said during a press briefing on Monday.\n\nThe driver called 911, and first responders pulled two women from the river, Balzer said. They were transported to area hospitals, where they were pronounced dead, he said.\n\nAuthorities continued searching for three men believed to have also been in the water, recovering their bodies on Monday, according to Delaware County Sheriff's Office spokesperson Tracy Whited.\n\nPolice are seen on the Scioto River in Delaware County, Ohio, July 20, 2026.\n\nWSYX\n\nThe group is believed to have been fishing Sunday evening at the Scioto River in Powell, north of Columbus, when at some point one of the adults went in to go swimming, according to Balzer.\n\n## Popular Reads\n\n\"That's when the tragedy started to occur,\" he said.\n\nWhen the person started to struggle in the water, two others went in to try to save them, but then they also started to struggle, Balzer said. Two others then went into the water to help, he said.\n\nTwo sets of parents are believed to be among the group of five, Balzer said. One of the deceased is believed to be the person who was initially struggling in the river, according to Whited, who noted the incident remains under investigation.\n\nAdditional information on the five victims, including their names, is not being released at this time pending next-of-kin notifications, the sheriff's office said.\n\nTwo children under the age of 10 who were with the group have been placed in the care of family services, according to Balzer.\n\n## Sponsored Content by Taboola\n\n[](https://www.sensenutrabrain.com/6a456be22a807d081dc86478)[Neurosharp™Memory Decline begins when seniors say these 3 phrases. (See which ones)](https://www.sensenutrabrain.com/6a456be22a807d081dc86478 \"Memory Decline begins when seniors say these 3 phrases. 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