DENVER-
Rescuers renewed their search Tuesday for a 2-year-old boy who was swept away from his mother when a flash flood overwhelmed them on a walking trail beside a creek.
A teenager was swept away in a separate incident after a thunderstorm dropped 1 1/2 inches of rain in about 30 minutes Monday night.
Both were presumed dead, but “there’s a chance, and we’re hoping for a miracle,” Fire Department spokesman Phil Champagne said.
The toddler’s mother and a police officer who helped rescue another teen were hospitalized, but their conditions were not immediately available. No names had been released.
Fire Department divers were searching for the 2-year-old first because they believe the creek carried him into the South Platte River, which has eddies where he could have gotten stuck, Champagne said.
The woman was pushing the child in a stroller on what had been a sunny, 70-degree day when the storm unleashed the downpour and sent a torrent of water along the creek, which is flanked by walls, Champagne said.
“Once you enter (the path), you’re in a chute,” he said. “She knew she was in trouble and was trying to get out. She was on the phone with her grandfather, trying to figure out a way out.”
The water knocked her down, and the stroller bearing her son was pulled from her grasp, Champagne said.
“What a tragic event,” he said. “That poor mother, to see her child swept away like that.”
The toddler’s empty stroller was found about 1 1/2 miles downstream.
In the other incident, the police officer jumped into a swollen creek and rescued a teenager, but another teen who apparently was trying to help was swept away, Champagne said.
Fire crews pulled the officer and the first teenager out of the swollen creek, which runs through a park.
The officer was hospitalized with what appeared to be hypothermia, police spokesman John White said.
