An intense flash flood at the popular Cold Spring, or Water Wheel, swimming hole in Payson, Arizona, claimed the lives of at least nine people on July 15, according to the Gila County Sheriff’s Office.
Disa Alexander was about to jump in the swimming hole when the water started rushing in. “Oh my dude I could’ve just died,” she says to the camera. “These people almost got hit…They’re trying to rescue this guy and his one-month-year-old baby.”
In a Facebook post, a friend who was with Alexander at the falls described a rescue helicopter coming to take four people away and seeing the body of a little girl “washed up dead.” He said he “won’t ever forget this until the day I die.”
Authorities are still searching for a missing person. Credit: Disa Alexander via Storyful