A man drowned while rescuing his two grandchildren from the water of a dam in western Wisconsin, officials said.
The incident occurred midafternoon Saturday about 11 miles north of Rice Lake at the Mikana Dam, the Barron County Sheriff’s Office said.
The 71-year-old grandfather had taken the two children to the dam to fish and swim. Both children had on lifejackets.
One of the two began to struggle in the water, prompting the grandfather to enter the water and bring them safely to shore, according to the sheriff’s office.
The grandfather “got them to where they could stand again, and they made it to shore,” a sheriff’s office statement read. “For an unknown reason, the [man] went under and drowned.”
The sheriff’s office has yet to release the identities of anyone involved.
