A bee might have led to the drowning deaths of twin babies in an Arizona canal last week, police told NBC News on Tuesday.
The tragedy occurred when Alexis Kesler was pushing her 18-month-old sons in a jogging stroller near a canal in the city of Yuma when she stopped to swat a bee away.
"The stroller rolled away from her into the canal, with the boys belted in the seat. The mother immediately entered the canal and attempted to rescue her sons," Yuma police said according to the station.
But the rush of the current, along with the water's depth and the canal's sloping embankments, prevented Kesler from saving little Silas and Eli.
"The stroller was washed away by the current. After struggling to get herself out of the canal, the mother immediately summoned help," police said.
Yuma workers slowed the current by reducing the amount of water flowing into the canal. But by the time the twins were found and flown to a hospital, it was too late.
"No parent should ever have to lose a child, you know, let alone both of them at the same time," Marlene Gleim, Kesler's friend, told CNN affiliate KYMA. "That's what really, really is heartbreaking to me, because those little boys were, you know, meant so much to so many people."
Authorities noted that canals throughout Yuma have uncommonly fast currents and passersby often underestimate how difficult it is to climb out of the water and up the steep embankments.
