California Man Dies Trying to Save 3 Kids From Drowning at Reedley Beach
- Manjit Singh had moved to Fresno two months ago and just started a truck driving school a day before his death.
A 29-year-old California man died on Aug. 6, while trying to save three kids from drowning at Reedley Beach, near Fresno. News reports say Manjit Singh jumped into Kings River after seeing two girls and a boy get swept away by the current.
“He went in to try to help them and unfortunately went under pretty quickly and never came back up,” local news reports quoted Reedley police Commander Marc Ediger as saying. “I think the kids waded out too far and started being carried by the current under the bridge,” Ediger said.
Police told local media that they did not know whether Singh even knew how to swim. It took rescue workers 40 minutes to find him and pull him from the water.
Singh’s family friend Gurpreet Singh told ABC 30 that Singh jumped in the water to save the kids and then he opened his turban and threw it like a rope. When that didn’t work he rushed in with all of his clothes on, even his phone and keys in his pockets. His family and friends followed and nearly ended up drowning themselves. He told the news channel that Singh was “a cautious person, who only waded in water no deeper than his thigh.”
According to the ABC 30 report, other bystanders were able to pull one of the kids out, and the other surviving child was able to climb to shore on his own. An 8-year-old girl, identified by ABC 30 as Samantha, was reportedly on life support at Valley Children’s Hospital.
Singh had moved to Fresno two months ago and just started a truck driving school a day before his death. After training ended he wanted to cool off, so he went down to the Kings River with his brother-in-law to ride jet skis.
According to a GoFundMe page started by his cousin, Malkit Singh, to help his family in India, Singh came to the U.S. to help his parents financially and “live the American Dream.” It has since raised over $11,000 toward its $31,000 goal.