Wildlife officials pulled four alligators from a lagoon at Walt Disney World after a 2-year-old boy was dragged into the water by an alligator near the upscale Grand Floridian Resort & Spa as his father frantically tried to rescue his son.
Meanwhile, Disney closed beaches Wednesday at their resorts “in an abundance of caution,” divers remained on standby and stunned summer visitors to the Magic Kingdom waited to hear news of efforts to find the child.
The family of five from Nebraska was on vacation and wading in the Seven Seas Lagoon about 9:20 p.m. Tuesday when the child was taken from an area where “no swimming” were posted by an alligator estimated to be between 4 feet and 7 feet long, Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings told a news conference early Wednesday.
The grim news is the latest for a city hammered with tragedy in the past few days. On Sunday, a gunman opened fire at a gay nightclub in Orlando, leaving 49 people dead in the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history. On Friday night, Christina Grimmie, 22, a contestant on season six of “The Voice,” was killed as she signed autographs after a show in Orlando.
From the Chicago Tribune
Disney News Today 