Twins drown in canal as mother fends off bee attack

Alexis Keslar ran into the canal to save her sons but the stroller was pulled away by the powerful current. Photo / via Facebook

Twin boys aged 18 months have drowned after their mother tried to fend off a bee attack by the side of a canal.

Alexis Keslar was jogging with her twin boys along the Yuma canal in Arizona when she momentarily let go of the stroller to deal with the bee. It rolled down the canal's steep banks with the children strapped inside and was swept off by the strong current, Yuma police in Arizona said.

Keslar immediately ran into the canal and tried to rescue her sons, but the speed of the current and the depth of the canal was too great and the stroller was carried off.

As emergency services arrived at the scene the irrigation district which manages the canal helped to slow the flow of water, reducing the water level and allowing the emergency services to locate and retrieve the children from the water.

The twin boys were taken to the Yuma Regional Medical Center, where they were pronounced dead. They have been named as Silas and Eli Kesla.

Since news of the death spread through the district, a GoFundMe page has been created by well-wishers to help the Keslar family with memorial and medical costs.

"It's just touching to see the amount of support from people," said Marlene Gleim, a family friend who set up the page as a mark of support for the Keslars.

"No parent should ever have to lost a child, let alone two at once," she told the Yuma Sun.

- Independent