The incident happened during a Borlaug Elementary “School of the Wild” field trip at the MacBride Nature Recreation Area in eastern Iowa.
An Iowa City elementary school teacher and a 10-year-old student died after a water emergency during a school field trip Tuesday at Lake Macbride, authorities and the school district said.
The Iowa City Community School District identified the victims as Hannah Jorgensen, 24, a fifth-grade teacher at Borlaug Elementary School, and Ahmed Osman, a fifth-grade student at the school.
The incident happened during a Borlaug Elementary “School of the Wild” field trip at the MacBride Nature Recreation Area in eastern Iowa. The Johnson County Sheriff’s Office said deputies were called around 12:10 p.m. Tuesday for a report of people in the water near the Coralville Reservoir spillway.
First responders recovered Jorgensen from the reservoir about 30 minutes later. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Crews searched for Osman into Tuesday evening before suspending recovery efforts overnight. The search resumed Wednesday, and responders recovered him from the water at about 1:24 p.m., authorities said.
“Hannah and Ahmed were deeply valued members of our school district community, and their loss is being felt throughout Borlaug and across our district,” the district said in a statement.
The district said counselors and additional support staff will be available to students and employees as the school community grieves. It also canceled future School of the Wild field trips for the foreseeable future.
Multiple agencies assisted in the search and recovery effort, including the Johnson County Metro Dive Team, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Iowa State Patrol and local fire and emergency medical crews.
The sheriff’s office is investigating.
