Man Dies Trying to Save Cell Phone That Fell Into River, Other Man Injured, Woman Missing After Trying to Save Him
A 26-year-old Minnesota man is now dead, another man is injured, and a woman is now missing and presumed dead, all because of a cell phone that accidentally fell into the icy Chicago River early Monday.
Ken Hoang, 26, was walking along the Chicago Riverwalk shortly after midnight Monday when he dropped his phone in the river, according to CBS Chicago.
Authorities said Hoang climbed the railing of the pathway in an attempt to grab his phone but he fell into the iced-over river instead.
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Two of his friends, a man and a woman who were with him, jumped into the river to help but things took a deadly turn.
Witnesses who said they heard cries for help called 911.
"We were walking to the fountain this way, and my friend said he heard a yell of help," a witness identified as Luis told CBS Chicago.
"At first I didn't believe it, you know, so we decided to keep walking this way. We wanted to keep sightseeing. As we got closer we heard it again, and I heard it again, too, and as we got closer we yelled out, 'Where you at?'"
Luis explained that he spoke with the man who was crying out for help and the man told him about the girl.
"He told me he had a friend that he was holding on to, and that there was a girlfriend that fell in the water, but he couldn't find her," he said.
Police and Fire Department divers rescued the two men from the water and they were taken to hospitals, but they were unable to find the missing 21-year-old woman.
Hoang later died while his 23-year-old friend was in critical condition at Presence Saint Joseph Hospital.
Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy warned in a Reuters report on Monday of the dangers of the ice.
"If your pets go onto ice, if you drop a cell phone or a wallet, do not try and retrieve it, especially from on top of the ice because you'll fall through," McCarthy told reporters. "That's how tragedies like this happen."
