A 6-year-old child is still missing after his mother perished while attempting to save him and his sibling from a river in Massachusetts.
According to authorities, the boy vanished into the Merrimack River Thursday evening while fishing and swimming on Deer Island, a recreational area on the Amesbury-Newburyport boundary.
The hunt for the kid, identified as Mas DeChhat of Lowell by Massachusetts State Police, resumed Saturday morning. Divers and boat operators from the state police, as well as divers from the Boston Fire Department, continued to scour the river using sonar gear and tow bars.
Local officials, who are also participating in the search, said on Friday that first responders had switched to a recovery effort.
“We’ve seen multiple catastrophes on the river, but never one involving an entire family,” Newburyport Fire Chief Christopher LeClaire told reporters Friday.
