Two children drown in pond near Conroe

Two children drowned in a small pond near Conroe late Thursday, just a week after three siblings swimming at Sylvan Beach Park in La Porte were swept away by a wave and died.

The recent deaths mark the second time this summer the Houston area has seen a cluster of drownings involving children, fueling concerns about safety awareness.

The deaths also bring the number of children who have drown in Texas this year to 71, according to the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. Harris County leads the state in drowning deaths with 13 cases, followed by Travis County with five.

By August of last year, 71 children had drown.

In Thursday’s incident, a firefighter pulled the bodies of two children, ages 3 and 4, from a small pond near Conroe. Tiny footprints at the edge of the water led responders to the bodies at Wigginsville Road in Grangerland, authorities said.

The two and another child were reported missing earlier. The other child was transported to an area hospital and was later released, said Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Scott Spencer. The case is under investigation, he said.

The drownings came within a week of a drowning in east Harris County. On Aug. 8, deputies responded to a “chaotic” scene at Sylvan Beach Park where four children had been swept away by a large wave, according to witnesses at the scene. One 10-yearold child was rescued from the water, but the bodies of three siblings, ages 7, 11 and 13, were recovered hours later.

Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez also said “choppy waters and undercurrents” might have contributed to the children’s deaths.

The first cluster of drownings were inMay and began when a 6year-old boy died in a community pool near Katy. The next day a 2year-old toddler was found dead after drowning at Sylvan Beach Park. A 3-year-old boy died in Sugar Land after he fell into a pool while his family barbecued. And during a Memorial Day weekend, a pair of toddler girls died within hours of each other May 26 in Harris and Fort Bend counties.

Annette Courtney, founder of the nonprofit Judah Brown Project, said that while it’s not uncommon for children to die by drowning, it is unusual for children to die in clusters so close together.

Drowning is the No. 1 cause of death in children ages 1 through 4 and the No. 3 cause of unintentional death worldwide, according to the Judah Brown Project, which is dedicated to raising awareness of child drownings and honoring those who have died by drowning.

Courtney said it’s easy for the public to “point the finger at parents” when a drowning occurs, but her wish is that more people would support the family and those who experience these types of deaths.

“We can change these statistics,” she said. “This could be avoided. My ultimate wish is that people would stop and help raise awareness.”