Four drown at Texas water park
FORT WORTH, Texas – A man and three children died Wednesday after they were found at the bottom of a deep pool at an elaborate downtown water park that is not meant for swimming.
A little girl either jumped or fell into the pool at the Fort Worth Water Gardens, across the street from the Fort Worth Convention Center, and the others apparently died trying to save her. Officials said that suction from a pump that pulls water to a waterfall at the park made rescues difficult.
All four were members of a Chicago church in town for a National Baptist Sunday School convention, said the Rev. Gerald M. Dew, the church’s pastor.
He identified the family as Myron Dukes, 35, his 8-year-old daughter Lauren Dukes and son Christopher Dukes, 13. The name of the other girl was not released pending notification of her family.
Dew said the children had gone to the water park to play because the pool at their nearby hotel was closed. The children’s mother did not go along, he said.
Dot Kent, a spokeswoman for the city of Fort Worth, said “no swimming” signs are posted in the park and near the pool. She said she understood that the little girls had on swimsuits when their bodies were recovered.
A panicked crowd watched as emergency crews pulled the victims from the pool at the Fort Worth Water Gardens, across from the Fort Worth Convention Center.
“I was screaming, ‘Somebody help! These kids are drowning,’ ” said witness Stephanie Johnson.
All four were pronounced dead at area hospitals.
Witness accounts varied on what happened. Apparently, the youngest child jumped or slipped into the water. The other girl fell in when she tried to reach in and help her friend. The man and the teenage boy then jumped in to try and save the girls.
A pump at the bottom of the pool that pulls water to a waterfall apparently created a suction that made rescues difficult, fire department spokesman Lt. Kent Worley said.
“A young person would not have the strength or the knowledge of how to get away from it,” he said.
Christian Tillis, 14, was standing at the top of the fountain area with his brother and friend when they noticed the commotion.
“I dived in after them. I felt a little bitty hand but it slipped out,” Tillis said. “And then I had to get out because I couldn’t breathe.”
Dozens of rescuers ringed the pool and waited for divers to surface with the bodies. They frantically tried to revive the children and man as they loaded them onto ambulances.
The 5.4-acre Water Gardens are part of a park that includes waterfalls, pools, hills and canyons. Each minute, 19,000 gallons of water courses through the park, according to the Fort Worth Convention and Visitors Center Web site. At one pool, visitors stand 38 feet below street level as 1,000 gallons of water cascade down a 710-foot wall.