Search underway for three people swept into Milwaukee drainage ditch

Heavy rain meant current was ‘swift’

The search and rescue operation began not longer after 6pm on Monday (CBS58)

Three people are still missing in southwest Wisconsin after authorities said two men jumped into a drainage ditch to try rescue an 11-year-old who had fallen in.

Police and fire departments in Milwaukee were called to the scene shortly after 6pm on Monday with three people missing, including two men in their 30s.

The boy was reportedly playing near the stream in Loomis, a suburb eight miles northwest of downtown Milwaukee, when he somehow ended-up in the drainage ditch nearby, as CBS58 reported.

Two men, including the boy’s father and uncle, jumped into the drainage ditch in a rescue attempt but were swept away by the stream, which forms a part of the Kinnickinnic River.

Reports suggest the water is about three feet deep and connects to a drainage tunnel operated by Milwaukee’s sewage system, or MMSD (Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District).

The sewage system was said to have been cooperating with the search and rescue operation which was forced to pause overnight on Monday.

An assistant fire chief described the ditch as having a “swift” current and that rain storms had recently passed through southeast Wisconsin, causing the steam to be more treacherous than usual.

The conditions on the water also meant rescue divers or boats could not be deployed on Monday, according to WISN.

“It was swift water,” said DeWayne Smoots, assistant Milwaukee fire chief, to reporters shortly after the incident occurred.

“If anybody knows about rapids, the water is fast. You can’t control your surroundings, makes it unsafe for anyone to venture in to do any search whatsoever because the water was moving so fast.”

A rescue effort will continue on Tuesday, with rescuers working from upstream to downstream using drones, ropes, and other equipment, Fox6 Now reported.