“I Tried Everything I Could to Get Them Back”: Mother Speaks After Daughters’ Drown

A tragic accident in Bella Vista, Toledo District, claimed the lives of two young sisters on Sunday afternoon. Angie Pimentel, 7, and Laury Pimentel, 8, drowned in an unfinished septic pit around 4 p.m.

Their mother, Delmy Argueta, told News 5 that she had sent them to run an errand at their grandmother’s house. The girls never made it. Argueta believes they may have tried to swim in the water-filled pit and did not realise the danger.

Their grandmother, Ligia Contreras, said she became concerned when Argueta called to ask if the girls had arrived at her home. When she realised they hadn’t, Contreras began searching the area and soon spotted their bicycles and slippers near the pit.

“I found a stick nearby that I used to put in the well, and that’s when I felt it touch one of them,” Contreras told News 5. “I think they innocently got in there; they’ve never tried to go in there before. That was the first time they did something like that.”

Contreras said she immediately called Argueta after feeling something in the pit. “I went there, got in the well, and took out the first one and then found the other one,” Arugeta said.

Arugeta said that the pit was deep enough to submerge her completely. “When I jumped in, the water covered me entirely,” she said.

She attempted to resuscitate the girls but was unsuccessful. “I tried everything I could to get them back, but it was already too late.” Argueta said she had no idea the pit existed or was so deep.

The bodies remain at the morgue as the family awaits their release for burial.