A tragic incident unfolded at Riverside Park on Saturday, as a 9-year-old child died after being pulled from the Grand River. The report by GRPD indicated that emergency crews were dispatched to the scene near Monroe Avenue and 3 Mile Road NE around 5 p.m., in response to a distress call about the missing child, according to the WZZM13.
Efforts to rescue the child were immediate with members of the Grand Rapids Fire Department and GRPD entering the river to locate the child who had, by unfortunate circumstance, gone into the water and subsequent frantic searches followed witnesses reported the child missing and was suspected to be submerged, WOOD stated.
After locating the child following several minutes in the water, rescuers brought the 9-year-old to shore. It was there that CPR and other medical aid were administered in a bid to save the young life before the child was transferred to a local hospital by LIFE EMS, WWMT.
Sadly, despite the efforts of the first responders and medical personnel, the child was pronounced dead at the hospital, marking a somber moment for the community and the teams involved in the rescue they worked swiftly and did all within their power but the river, indifferent to their efforts and the life it held within, claimed the child in the end; definitive causes and circumstances leading up to the accident are under investigation by the appropriate authorities.
