Despite a sign that warned against swimming in the area, two Bronx teenagers jumped into the Bronx River yesterday afternoon and things took a turn for the worst. After disappearing in the water, one was killed and another is now left in critical condition, officials say.
Two cousins, Gavin Willington and Erickson Villa, both only 13 years old, jumped into the river near Starlight Park. Friends swimming nearby called for help at around 3pm after losing sight of the two teens. After a 20 minute search, Willington was rescued from the water.
“The kids that were swimming with the other victims, and they pinpointed the area where they went down, and we looked directly in that area and were able to quickly recover one,” FDNY Deputy Chief Anthony Montera explained to CBS News. “The other one took longer to find — no visibility down there; very hard to see anything.”
Wellington was taken to St. Barnabas Hospital and is now at Montefiore Medical Center. Villa was pronounced dead at St. Barnabas after having been removed from the water at around 4:20 pm.
See photos from the tragic scene in the gallery above.
