Girl falls into spillway near Hutterite colony by Portage la Prairie, frantic search underway

Frantic efforts to find a girl who's fallen into a swollen spillway nearthe Woodland Hutterite Colony are underway.

Judy Hofer says it seems children were playing at the spillway around 4 or 4:30 p.m. Tuesday when one of the girls, aged 11 or 12, fell in.

"One fell in and she tried to help the other one. There were more children down there and they tried to help. One girl came out and all of a sudden the other one disappeared," she said.

Hofer said everyone is down by the water now trying to find her but it's not looking good.

"[Her] parents are down there just waiting and they're taking it very hard," she said.

The community is about 18 kilometres north of Portage la Prairie.

"We are all so sad, very sad," she said.

More to come