42-year-old New Jersey father dies while trying to rescue his three children, ages 8, 11 and 13, from a river after he ‘struggled to keep his balance’ in shallow water

A man has died after jumping into a New Jersey river to save his three children, authorities have confirmed.

The incident occurred around 2 p.m. Wednesday near Franklin Township, in a stretch of the Millstone River.

The body of the unidentified man, a 42-year-old from South River, was pulled by dive teams some three hours later after police arrived to find the deceased’s three accompanied children along the shoreline.

Witnesses later told police that the children – aged 13, 11 and 8 – had ended up in the water before their father when they became ‘upset’.

The father, whose identity is withheld until officers notify his next of kin, then stormed in to heroically pull them to a shallower part of the river.

But once the children were safe, witnesses said the father struggled to keep his balance and eventually slipped below the surface. The police are investigating the incident.

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Witnesses told police of the incident that the children – aged 13, 11 and 8 – had entered the river before their father before they became ‘upset’. The unnamed man then slid below the water’s surface and was eventually pulled by dive teams about three hours later

“The children entered the water and quickly became distressed,” read a press release from the Franklin Township Police Department, which also revealed that an 911 call at 2:13 p.m. alerted officers to the situation.

“The victim entered the water to help, pulled his children into the shallows, but struggled to keep his balance,” police continued, while part of a heavily trafficked road bordering the 38-mile tributary remained cordoned off.

Franklin Township Police Lt. Vincent Wilson would then confirm what many in the small suburban town suspected – that the loving father had died sometime after 911 and his body had since been recovered.

In the update, Wilson said the deceased was recovered by members of the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office diving team — who searched the water earlier in the day — at about 5:28 p.m.

The children, whose gender was not disclosed, were treated at the scene, the lieutenant said, adding that they did not need any additional medical care after that initial treatment.

While being treated, police said, first responders encountered some difficulty trying to locate the victim – who was nowhere to be seen when officers arrived.

In the search that followed, the Franklin Township Police Department said it was assisted by several other agencies, including the Millstone Valley Fire Department, as well as firefighters from the nearby towns of Griggstown and Franklin Park.

They were assisted by officials from Somerset Fire and Rescue, fire chiefs from nearby Franklin, and officers from both Montgomery and South Brunswick Police Departments.

Unfortunately, once the children were safe, witnesses said they saw the father struggling to keep his balance before eventually sliding under the water. The police are investigating the incident

The incident occurred around 2 p.m. Wednesday near Franklin Township, in a stretch of the Millstone River. The man died after running into the river to save his three children, police said

The father, whose identity is withheld until officers notify his next of kin, then charged into the water to heroically pull them to a shallower part of the river.

Other factors contributing to and surrounding the incident remain unknown, and officers from the small town police department are continuing to investigate

NJ State and State Park police also participated in the extensive search, police said — though it was ultimately members of the Somerset County Attorney’s Dive Team who recovered the man’s body.

The factors that contributed to and surrounding the incident, meanwhile, remain unknown as Franklin Township Police Department officers continue to investigate.

Aerial photos taken of the crime scene by New Jersey 101.5 earlier in the day showed the hour-long search in the section of the river, which is a common spot for both boating and swimming.

That said, Millstone officials advise against swimming without others present, even though the river’s currents tend to be on the calmer side.

Still, the risk of an undercurrent – or a wayward current – remains, and in this case fatal for the father.

Officers have yet to release an official cause of death, claiming only that the deceased was “difficult to keep his balance” before disappearing into the water.

The Franklin Township Police Department – which has only 37 full-time officers – is investigating. The department did not immediately respond to a DailyMail.com request for comment.

As for the children, police say they have relieved them of their supervision. They did not require medical care.