DC Fire and EMS and officers from the Metropolitan Police Department last night at the Wharf.

/ DC Fire and EMS

Two women died after suffering falls in two separate areas of the Potomac riverfront Wednesday night. D.C. Fire and EMS was called to the scene to rescue one woman near the Wharf and another near Georgetown.

The first incident occurred at approximately 7:30 p.m. near the 900 block of Maine Avenue SW, D.C. Fire and EMS spokesperson Vito Maggiolo tells DCist. A witness told officials they saw an adult female drop into the water in the vicinity of the District Pier at the Wharf, Maggiolo says. A police report on the incident states that the initial call was regarding a woman “standing on the ledge of the pier who was about to jump or had already jumped into the water.”

Approximately 25 minutes later, D.C. Fire located the woman in the water with the help of the Metropolitan Police Department’s harbor unit divers, Maggiolo says. Per the police report, the woman was unconscious and unresponsive. She was transported to George Washington University Hospital, where doctors pronounced her dead at 8:19 p.m.

Around midnight, D.C. Fire undertook another water rescue assignment near the Key Bridge, Maggiolo says. They got a call that an adult female had fallen from a high location in the area, he says. A police report indicates the woman fell from the Alexandria Aqueduct abutment in Georgetown around 11:38 p.m. Wednesday night.

Remains of the former aqueduct bridge in Georgetown, where one woman is said to have fallen into the water last night. NCinDC / Flickr

Maggiolo tells DCist that after efforts from D.C. Fire and a U.S. Park Police helicopter to find the woman, they located her in a boat that was moored along the shoreline. D.C. Fire stated on Twitter that she had sustained “critical life threatening injuries.” A police report indicates she was then transported to George Washington University Hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 1:01 a.m.Thursday morning.

Police report that foul play is not suspected at this time, and they do not believe the two cases to be related in any way. Officials are not releasing either of the women’s names pending notification of their families, an MPD spokesperson tells DCist. Maggiolo says investigations into both deaths are ongoing.

Filed Under: d.c. fire, dcfems, mpd,