Search Resumes for Body of Boy Missing in River

Emergency crews and search boats returned to the Potomac River south of the Chain Bridge this morning to try and recover the body of an 11-year-old boy believed to have drowned in the strong current last night.

The youth slipped off rocks during a fishing expedition with his father about 75 yards south of the bridge, a D.C. fire department spokesman said.

The current in that area is regarded as deceptively swift, and the water level and rate of flow have risen in recent days because of rain upstream.

After hours of futile searching last night, authorities said they no longer expected to find the child alive, Deputy D.C. Fire Chief Ken Crosswhite said.

Authorities said the father tried to reach the child after he slipped into the water about 5 p.m. incident but subsequently the father required rescue himself.

In addition to the D.C. police and fire departments, the U.S. Park Police and the Coast Guard were involved in the search last night and again this morning.

The section of the river downstream from Chain Bridge has been the scene of many accidental drownings.

Authorities said that many people who flock to the riverbanks during warm weather have not recognized the subsurface hazards, particularly the current flowing beneath an often-calm surface.

Several factors, including warning signs in Spanish and Vietnamese, appear to have sharply curtailed the death rate in recent years.

Sgt. David Schlosser, a Park Police spokesman, said police warn against entering the river below the bridge and urge people at water's edge to use personal flotation devices.

Yesterday, gauges showed water levels at Little Falls, above the bridge, near the point where recreation is regarded as hazardous.