3 Houston-Area Residents Drown During Turks And Caicos Vacation

Three Houston-area residents drowned and two children were rescued while on vacation in the Turks and Caicos Islands earlier this week, according to officials and news reports.

A search and rescue mission was underway in the islands on Monday, the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force said. Island officials began the search and rescue mission around 1 p.m. local time.

About an hour later, a 33-year-old woman was confirmed dead and the body of an adult male was recovered just after 5 p.m. The following day, the body of a second man was recovered shortly after 6 a.m.

Two girls were rescued by good samaritans and are in the care of social services. The authorities said the two girls were related to the adults but didn't say how.

According to a report in KPRC, one of the girls was the daughter of two of the drowning victims, who family members identified as Irma Barrera, 33, and Roy Perez, 38, of Lake Jackson. The second girl was the daughter of the third victim, identified in the KPRC report as Dr. Richard Okoloise.

"Yesterday the Turks and Caicos suffered a very human and terrible tragedy when five tourists from two families got into difficulties in the waters off Middle Caicos," the Turks and Caicos Commissioner of Police said in a statement on Tuesday.

The nature of the difficulties the tourists faced was not immediately clear.