Two Deaths In Less Than 12 Hours Sunday On The Delaware River

Two drownings were reported Sunday in the Delaware River, according to multiple media sources.

A Virginia man who jumped into the Delaware River near the Bristol Wharf on the Pennsylvania side around 10 a.m. Sunday was seen struggling and went under, NBC10 reported.

His body has not yet been recovered and the search effort is now considered a recovery, NJ.com said.

He was identified by family members as Marquis ‘Mack’ Richardson, 22, of Virginia, 6ABC said.

The Point Pleasant Dive Team, multiple Bucks County fire departments and New Jersey State Police conducted the search, which was suspended Sunday due to rough currents.

Then, around 7:15 p.m. Sunday, NBC10 reported two men and a woman who were walking along the waterfront in Burlington City, N.J. jumped into the river to swim to Burlington Island.

One of the swimmers went under. His body was recovered around 9 p.m., NBC10 said.

He has not yet been identified.

The weekend’s drownings are the latest in a series of fatal incidents in the Delaware River this summer.

On July 10, Doris Rake, 45, and Kathryn Haney, 19, died after their kayaks capsized in the Delaware River north of Bull’s Island State Park.

On July 12, a 46-year-old Camden man died after drowning in the Delaware River near Gloucester County‘s National Park.

Bucks County officials recently warned residents to stay off of the Delaware River due to strong currents.

“Please, Please, Please, stay off the river for the next few days. The river current is running extremely strong, and there have been multiple rescues today. If the water is brown and muddy, stay out! It will be a few days before the river is safe for tubing and other water sports,” the New Hope Eagle Volunteer Fire Company wrote in a Facebook post earlier in July.