Two young sisters, ages 4 and 7, were killed Tuesday south of Jenner when their mother lost control of their pickup and it plummeted into the Russian River, trapping them inside and temporarily closing Highway 1, officials said.
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The girls’ mother, a 32-year-old Jenner resident, was driving her Ford F-250 about 35 miles per hour when it began to slide on the wet road along a curve on the southbound side of the highway, said Officer Jonathan Sloat, a CHP spokesman.
Harry Kenney and his wife were watching birds in the river Tuesday morning when the accident occurred.
Their names and their mother’s name were not yet released as authorities notified their family.
The incident on state Highway 1 was reported around 8:25 a.m., according to REDCOM, the Sonoma County Fire and Emergency Services dispatch center.
“I tried to get them out, I tried to get them out”, the mother said.
“I tried to get them out, I tried to get them out”, the distraught mother, wrapped in a towel, said, while the bodies of her children remained in ambulances waiting for a coroner’s official to arrive.
The morning was thick with fog.
That area of the highway runs along the widening river as it enters the sea.
“I looked over and said ‘Oh my goodness, it’s a boat, ‘” Kenney said.
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Kwon dove down into the murky river water where he said there was only about 2 feet of visibility. State Parks officers with diving equipment were able to reach the vehicle and remove the children after about 30 minutes, Sloat said.
