Twin brothers drown in watery grave after truck crashes off DC bridge into icy river

Twin brothers were tragically killed connected their mode to Washington DC erstwhile their motortruck collided with different conveyance and plunged into the icy Potomac River. 

DC Fire and Emergency Services received a telephone conscionable earlier 7 p.m. connected January 16 reporting a clang that resulted successful 1 car submerged successful the river. 

It's unclear what led to the collision, but the operator successful the different conveyance was transported to a infirmary with insignificant injuries. 

DC Fire/EMS and Park Police responded to the incidental and pulled 1 brother, Jerel Wert retired of the water. He was pronounced dormant aft helium was transported to a adjacent hospital. 

Jerel's brother, Jerod, who was driving the vehicle, wasn't recovered until the adjacent day. Footage recovered from a dash camera revealed the shocking infinitesimal the motortruck veered disconnected the bridge. 

The brothers were driving a achromatic pickup truck. The video shows the car driving on the roadworthy erstwhile it appeared to bump into the backmost of a 2nd vehicle. 

The motortruck past mislaid power and took a crisp crook into oncoming traffic. The different cars connected the roadworthy swerved but the motortruck crashed into the span obstruction and plunged into the river. 

Witnesses rapidly pulled implicit and crowded astir the damaged span to spot what happened. 

Nigisti Adane, the witnesser who captured the video, told section Fox affiliate WTTG that the motortruck sank rapidly aft it plummeted disconnected the bridge. 

'The motortruck went consecutive down. It looked similar it went consecutive down,' she explained. Adane told WTTG that she called authorities astatine 6:48 p.m. and they arrived 15 minutes later. 

The frigid temperatures made matters worse. Weather records bespeak that the somesthesia of the Potomac River is arsenic debased arsenic 20 degrees, portion DC reached temperatures arsenic debased arsenic 20 degrees connected January 16. 

DC Fire and EMS Department shared footage of exigency responders mounting up campy astatine the bottommost of the stream to initiate the rescue mission. 

Snow was pummeling the exigency responders arsenic they acceptable up a pulley strategy to assistance the motortruck retired of the river. 

Jerel and Jerod's sister, Nikki Windsor told WTTG that Jerel worked arsenic a carpenter and Jerod was an HVAC mechanic. 

'They were precise hard workers - particularly Jerod. That was his hobby - work, work, work. He loved to work' she told the section outlet. 

Nikki added that Jerel was a instrumentalist who loved guitars and Jerod was a father. She said that the 2 were precise adjacent and conscionable celebrated a day connected December 11. 

Questions stay arsenic to however the motortruck veered disconnected the bridge, but Nikki believes they deed achromatic crystal owed to the harsh weather. 

The twins were from Chesapeake Beach, Maryland, and were traveling connected a travel unneurotic erstwhile they were killed. 

'Jerod and Jerel were beloved members of the Chesapeake Beach community, ever acceptable to connection enactment and kindness to those astir them,' their obituary reads. 

'Their shared positivity and adjacent narration had a profound interaction connected everyone who knew them, making their nonaccomplishment adjacent much heart-wrenching.' 

City officials constructed fences and barriers to artifact the spread successful the bridge. David Lattanzi, a erstwhile span instructor, told section ABC affiliate, WJLA News, that it was astonishing that a motortruck of that size was capable to bust done the barrier. 

'If it was a tractor-trailer oregon a semi, it makes sense. That is simply a gigantic truck. But this looks similar it's airy work truthful it's a atrocious operation of worst-case script of a motortruck coming successful and doing this,' helium told the outlet. 

The span was forced to adjacent aft the collision and officials pulled the motortruck retired 19 hours aft it went into the river. 

Chris Ziemba, who was successful municipality for Inauguration day, told WJLA that the spread successful the span was a bittersweet reminder of what had happened the week before. 'This is horrible, scary, and sad,' helium told the outlet. 

Dailymail.com reached retired to Park Police and DC Fire/EMS for remark but didn't instantly perceive back.