First responders from various fire and law enforcement agencies prepare to search a drainage pond near the 1200 block of Edgewater Drive after two children were pulled from the pond Wednesday night in Greenwood.
Submitted Photo | Indianapolis Fire Department
The Marion County Coroner’s Office released the names of the two Greenwood children who died after being pulled from a drainage pond Wednesday.
The two children were identified as Rosia Mang, 13, and Paw Lin, 11, officials from the office said Friday.
At approximately 7:50 p.m., emergency personnel were called to the 1200 block of Edgewater Drive after two children were separated from a group of people playing in the water and did not resurface. The group was playing in a pond tucked behind homes just south of Greenwood Community High School, officials said.
Greenwood Fire Department and Greenwood Police Department were first on the scene and rescued the female victims at 8:05 p.m. and 8:15 p.m., respectively. The children were in approximately 15 feet of water, according to a news release from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.
The children were transported to Franciscan Health Hospital and Community South in critical condition. One child died from her injuries at Franciscan Health Hospital in Indianapolis Thursday morning. The second child passed away later that afternoon at Riley Hospital for Children, the release says.
Greenwood Community Schools Superintendent Terry Terhune said in a message to the school community Thursday that one of the children who died was a Greenwood Middle School student. He also asked for the community to keep the family in their thoughts during a difficult time, the message said.
The message did not identify the student.
Indiana Conservation Officers are investigating the incident. First responders from the Bargersville and Indianapolis fire departments, Johnson County Sheriff’s Office and Southport Police assisted at the scene, officials said
Nationwide, the number of fatal child drownings and nonfatal drowning injuries for children under age 15 have remained high. Every year, there an estimated 3,960 fatal unintentional drownings — an average of 11 a day — and an estimated 8,080 nonfatal drownings —an average of 22 a day, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Drowning is a leading cause of death for children, and for children between ages 1-14, it is the second-leading cause of death after motor vehicle crashes, according to CDC data.
Last year, the number of pool- or spa-related, hospital department-treated, nonfatal drowning injuries involving children younger than 15-years-old spiked 17% in 2021 with 6,800 injuries reported, compared to 5,800 in 2020, according to a report released last week by the U.S. Consumer and Product Safety Commission.
For fatal pool- or spa-related drownings involving children younger than 15-years-old, an average of 389 fatal drownings were reported from 2017 to 2019, the most recent years available.
There are many parents and caregivers can take to keep children safer in an around the water, officials say.
You should never leave a child unattended in or near water, and should always designate an adult to watch the child while they are in the water. The person shouldn’t be reading, texting, using a phone or otherwise be distracted while watching the child, according to an USCPC news release.
Parents and caregivers should learn how to swim and should teach their children how to swim. They should also learn how to perform CPR on both children and adults, and make sure to keep kids away from pool drains, pipes and other openings to avoid entrapment, the news release says.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
