It was the recurring passage of the gendarmerie helicopter which intrigued residents of Pontoise and Saint-Ouen-l'Aumône this Wednesday evening.
Emergency services are looking for a missing child.
The alert was given around 6:40 p.m.
According to the first alert messages, three children from two different families were playing on the bank when they escaped the vigilance of their parents, two friends from the two communities separated by the river.
They were there in the afternoon with their children.
The eldest, aged around twelve, was finally quickly found in the area.
But the two girls, aged 5 and 6, fell into the water.
One was quickly rescued by an Argenteuil firefighter, who was off duty.
But the youngest is missing.
Saint-Ouen-l'Aumône, Wednesday March 13.
Divers are hard at work searching for a young child who may have drowned in the Oise.
DR
The emergency services deployed a substantial device on the bank, on the Saint-Ouen-l'Aumône side between the road bridge and the railway bridge.
No less than 36 firefighters were still on site at 10:45 p.m. this Thursday evening, as were Samu.
“A terrible scene”
The Departmental Fire and Rescue Service deployed specialized teams, including a drone, to try to locate the child.
Three zodiacs travel back and forth to the dam less than a km away, while divers probe the river this Wednesday evening.
“An atrocious scene”, testifies on social networks Audrey, who “saw the mother arrive on site in a state of shock”.
The technical and scientific police carried out surveys and observations on the bank, at the place where the little girls would have slipped.
The context of the accident remains unclear.
The two children found safe and sound are in a state of shock but their state of health is not worrying.
Around twenty onlookers were still there in the evening, hoping to witness a happy outcome.
“We keep our fingers crossed,” whispers one of them.
“At that age, it’s quick to lose sight of them,” sympathizes another.