Two Mexican volunteers die while helping in Texas flood-rescue efforts: report

According to Daily Mail, the accident happened about 10 minutes after a motorboat left on its mission at 3 p.m. Monday Aug. 28. The journalists along with one other man were rescued Tuesday morning at around 11:30 a.m.

The journalists were in Houston reporting on the horrific floods and had joined five volunteer rescuers on Monday afternoon at 3 p.m. who were trying to reach an elderly woman who was trapped by Hurricane Harvey flood waters.

Two of the four men, 33-year-old Jorge Perez, a married father-of-two, and 25-year-old Yahir Vizueth, who was unmarried, were confirmed dead overnight.

The missing rescuers have been identified as Benjamin Vizueth, 31 and Gustavo Rodriguez-Hernandez, 40.

A fifth volunteer, Jose Vizuelt, 30, has also been hospitalized.

Family members said they contacted hospitals as well as the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences who said the bodies of both were at the morgue.

Yahir’s brother Benjamin, a 33-year-old father-of-three, is still missing while a third sibling, Jose, 30, is recovering in the hospital with burns to his legs, chest and a bruised stomach. He also has three children.

All three brothers worked together in a family-owned car dealership.

Benjamin is married to Perla Jaquez, 31, and they have three children, Benjamin, 15, Jullisa, 9, and 3-year-old Nathan,

She said: ‘I just want to let people know these men died giving their lives to save others.’

Members of the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) were conducting search and rescue operations yesterday in the flooded waters of Wallisville in eastern Harris County when they aided in the recovery of three injured persons who capsized their boat.

At approximately 6:30 p.m., DPS Troopers assigned to the department’s Tactical Marine Unit and Deputy Constables from the Harris County Precinct Three Constable’s Office pulled the injured to safety, found two deceased, and were unable to find two persons who were also thrown from the boat. DPS Troopers and Deputy Constables learned the boat struck a power line electrocuting those aboard the watercraft. The identities of those deceased, injured, and rescued are not known at this time.

All those volunteering in the rescue efforts are urged to keep their safety a priority as they unselfishly work to save the lives of others.

The other missing man, Gustavo Rodriguez-Hernandez, 40, was a construction worker and had owned the doomed rescue boat for four years.

He was a keen fisherman who was described by friends as an experienced boat captain.

He was the stepfather of Perla Jaquez and her brother Juan Carlos, 28, who added: ‘Oh man, it’s so sad. There are no words to describe how we feel.’

Perez, a handyman, had a 14-year-old daughter Dana and a son aged 15, Jorge.

His wife Nancy, 34, said: ‘He’s a hero. He’s a good friend who gave his life for others. The children are devastated, he was a very good father who always gave them guidance.’

The group tried to navigate Houston’s heavily flooded Normandy neighborhood to reach a wheelchair-bound resident but lost control of their motorboat and as the boat moved into the current, it started to drift toward the power lines.

The live cables sent a powerful electric shock through the craft tossing the seven occupants overboard.

Butterfield was able to climb up a tree where he was stranded overnight following the accident that took place at around 4 p.m. Monday afternoon.

Butterfield, Connellan and one of the four volunteers were rescued Tuesday morning by a boat crew from the Texas Department of Public Safety and taken to the hospital.

However the four other occupants of the electrocuted vessel have not been seen since and rescue efforts are underway to find them.

To read the full article on Daily Mail click here.

Source: www.dailymail.co.uk