A fifth-grade teacher and a 10-year-old student from Borlaug Elementary died following an incident in the water during a school trip.
An Iowa teacher and a 10-year-old student died after a water incident at Lake MacBride State Park during a fifth-grade class trip, authorities and school officials said.
The Johnson County Sheriff’s Office identified the victims as 24-year-old Hannah Jorgensen of Tiffin and 10-year-old Ahmed Osman of Iowa City. Jorgensen taught fifth grade at Borlaug Elementary, where Ahmed was a fifth-grade student.
Deputies were called shortly after noon Tuesday to reports of people in the water near the Coralville Reservoir spillway. First responders pulled Jorgensen from the reservoir at 12:43 p.m., and she was pronounced dead at the scene. Search teams looked for Ahmed throughout Tuesday evening before pausing recovery efforts overnight. The search resumed Wednesday, and crews recovered the boy from the water at 1:24 p.m.
The deaths took place during a School of the Wild field trip at the MacBride Nature Recreation Area. More than a dozen agencies assisted in the operation, including the Johnson County Metro Dive Team, local fire departments, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Iowa State Patrol, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and medical personnel.
“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 Iowa City Community School District said in a statement. District officials said counselors and extra support staff would stay at Borlaug Elementary. Jorgensen had also previously worked as a paraeducator and completed student teaching at Garner Elementary.
The sheriff’s office said the incident remains under investigation.
