Two siblings died after being swept away by the river in San Bernardino

A mother’s attempt to save her two young children ended tragically on Tuesday after officials said fast-moving water swept the siblings down a stream in California’s San Bernardino Mountains.

The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office At 1:45 p.m., it was reported that a woman with her two-year-old son and four-year-old daughter were spending the afternoon at the Thurmun Flats picnic area, which sits above the banks of Mill Creek, a major tributary of the Santa Ana River.

“The mother and her children were playing near the river as the water flowed rapidly downstream,” the sheriff’s office wrote in a news release.

Shortly after 3 p.m., officials reported, the mother was caring for her son when her daughter was swept downstream. The woman searched for her daughter but could not find her, and when she returned to her son, he was also missing and was suspected to be downstream as well.

“After frantically searching, she wandered to the picnic area and contacted another family to help locate the children, but was unable to locate them,” the release continued.

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Both children were found on the river bank

Shortly after 4 p.m., Yucaipa Station officials, the Sheriff’s Air Rescue Team, Mentone Station County Fire Department personnel and U.S. Forest Service crews began assisting in the search for the missing children.

At around 4:39 p.m., emergency responders located the 4-year-old boy near the riverbank, and shortly after 5:00 p.m., they found the 2-year-old girl also on the riverbank, the sheriff’s office reported.

First responders transported the siblings to local hospitals, the statement continued, where “after extensive life-saving measures,” the children were pronounced dead.

The identities of the victims are still pending

The San Bernardino County Coroner’s Office will determine the children’s exact cause and manner of death.

As of Wednesday, the office had not released the names of the victims or provided information about their origins.

Anyone who witnessed the incident is asked to contact the sheriff’s office.

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