MILWAUKEE — Recovery efforts will start again Thursday as crews search for two adults who were swept away in a Milwaukee drainage ditch earlier this week.
Fire Chief Aaron Lipski confirmed first responders found the body of 10-year-old Muhammad Arman bin Rashidula in the Kinnickinnic River on Wednesday, which the ditch drains into.
Officials said his father and their neighbor are yet to be recovered.
They disappeared after witnesses say they tried to save Rashidula.
The three fell into the ditch near 16th and Cleveland, and the current swept the boy about two miles down into the river.
Now, officials plan to resume their search as severe weather becomes more and more likely Wednesday evening.
The severe storms expected to hit the area could make the search even more dangerous. Milwaukee Fire says the weather conditions play a significant role in how the investigation can progress.
The work itself is grueling and miserable. Crews are wading or diving into the water, tethered to trees or poles to avoid getting swept.
Fighting low oxygen, poisonous gases, and debris, the fast-moving and surging high water makes any extended search tough and if any danger comes up, crews have to be pulled immediately.
Add to that today's forecast of extreme heat and heavy storms, and concerns are even more significant.
"It is horrendously dangerous to work on or in swift water, and this far exceeded swift water last night certainly. Water in tunnels provides no opportunity for the rescue; I assure you it would result in firefighter fatality or serious injury," said Lipski.
TMJ4 first reported this story in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
