Search on as boy falls into Harlem River

A 5-year-old child fell into the Harlem Riveroff RandallsIsland on Saturday afternoon as his horrified parents watched him vanish, authorities and witnesses said.

The child, wearing shorts and no shirt, disappeared after going into the water off Bronx Shore Road near the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge about 2:40 p.m.

Rosa Mencia, who was in the area with her family, said she saw the little boy running to the water.

“The family were in the field with the children and many children were playing soccer,” she said. “Then one child was running, just running to the water.”

“The boy — he went right down,” Mencia said. “People ran into the water, and they couldn’t get him. They were crying.”

“I looked at the father and he threw himself to the floor,” she said. “He was crying.”

Witnesses rushed to aid the search. “I saw a bunch of people running towards the water and people started stripping,” said one witness, Karim Hutson.

“Immediately everybody started looking to try and see if they can find the kid.”

“There was about 4 or 5 folks in the water and I guess 10 or so people running around the shore trying to see if they can locate the kid and they just couldn’t find him ... Everybody was trying to see what they can do,” Hutson said.

“It’s tragic,” he said, adding: “Honestly, there’s so much litter in the water it’s hard to see.”

FDNY and NYPD divers were called in to do a more thorough search. NYPD helicopters were coordinating the search from the air later Saturday.

Emergency Service Unit members from the Bronx, Queens and Manhattan were also called in to assist.