MILWAUKEE (AP) -- Authorities searched Sunday for a 6-year-old girl who fell into the fast-moving Milwaukee River and her 12-year-old sister, who jumped in to save her.
The sisters and a 10-year-old boy were playing on a floating pier attached to the shore when the younger girl fell in around midday, said Lt. Ron Firnrohr of the Milwaukee Fire Department. The girls, who live nearby, didn't know how to swim, he said.
The boy then alerted two nearby Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District workers, said Fire Department Capt. Michael Olinger.
The river, 10 to 15 feet deep, was moving at 3 to 4 mph. By early Sunday Milwaukee had received 6.5 inches of rain for the month of May, more than 3 inches above normal.
About 15 officials from the police, fire department and U.S. Coast Guard on four boats and a helicopter helped in the search, Olinger said. Divers tried to search for the girls, but couldn't go farther that two feet underwater because of the current, he said.
