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Good Samaritan Dies Trying to Save Teen Swept Into River

High school student also died in Ohio tragedy
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Apr 1, 2021 5:04 AM CDT
Teen, Would-Be Rescuer Drown Near Ohio Dam
Rescue workers at the site of the tragedy Tuesday evening.   (YouTube)

A fishing outing near an Ohio dam ended with the deaths of a high school student who fell into the river and a man who tried to rescue him, authorities said. Two other teenagers were hospitalized. The three teens were part of a larger group who were exploring and fishing Tuesday night on the spillway side of the Delaware Dam on the Olentangy River, about 35 miles north of Columbus, the AP reports. The teens were swept into the river on the downstream side of the dam and began to struggle in the current, witnesses said.

Melvin Guerra Salvador, 20, of Columbus, jumped in the water and attempted a rescue, but he and Nabin Bhandari, 17, a Columbus resident who attended Westerville Central High School, both died a short time later. The two other teenagers suffered undisclosed injuries and were being treated at a hospital, authorities said. Salvador wasn't with the group who were fishing from a precarious spot on the dam, but "was a good Samaritan who jumped into the water to save the life of a struggling teen," a sheriff's office spokesperson tells the Columbus Dispatch.

(More Ohio stories.)

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