An 11-year-old boy in Arkansas was killed on Monday after being sucked into a storm drain while playing in it during a massive flood.
As the boy played in the water retention area in Bentonville, he became ‘distressed’ and a woman entered the area to help him.
The severity of the floods meant both the woman and the boy were pulled into the storm drain, and emergency responders were called and arrived a short time later.
They were quickly able to locate and rescue the 47-year-old woman, but the boy had been dragged further into the drain.
Rescue crews then located the child’s body and transported him to a local hospital, but he unfortunately died while there.
An 11-year-old boy and a 47-year-old woman were pulled into a storm drain on Monday amid heavy flooding in Bentonville, Arkansas
Emergency responders were able to locate and retrieve the woman, who survived, but it took longer to retrieve the boy and he died later in a local hospital
Thunderstorms brought heavy downpours to the area Monday and caused localized flash flooding, the National Weather Service said.
One journalist warned residents to be careful driving as it was difficult to tell if a road was flooded or not.
One resident who lived nearby said they had never seen the water get as high as it did on Monday.
Bentonville police say this is an active investigation and there are no additional details available at this time.
Bentonville, famous for being the birthplace of retail giant Walmart, is located in the northwest corner of Arkansas, close to the state lines of Missouri and Oklahoma.