COMSTOCK TOWNSHIP —

They jumped off the bridge into the Kalamazoo River to celebrate that the world did not end.

But that spontaneous celebration resulted in the apparent drowning of a 18-year-old Kalamazoo youth.

Two hours later, Jordan Skinner-Knapp was standing in the parking lot of Comstock's Merrill Park. Still wet, he was thinking about his friend, Anthony Alexander Johnson, who was swept away in the river's current.

Jordan, 15, said he and a group of five friends went to Merrill Park on Saturday, the day the world was suppose to end according to a highly publicized prediction by evangelist Harold Camping.

Jordan said they told Johnson to not go into the water because he said he couldn't swim well.

About 6:25 p.m., they all jumped off the east side of the bridge and started swimming. Jordan said the river current overwhelmed Johnson.

"Save him — someone save him," Jordan yelled..

Jordan said he tried to grab hold his friend, but the current separated them. Jordan said he hit a log sticking out of the river. Johnson kept going downstream.

"I tried to save him," Jordan said.

As the group of teens jumped into the water, 11-year-old Tyce Covey was on the riverbank celebrating the win by his baseball team at a nearby ball field.

Tyce said he saw the teen taken away in the current, his hands waving in the air.

"He was screaming 'Help, help me," Tyce said.

Tyce's father, David Covey, 39 of South Haven, said he heard his son screaming for help.

"We ran as fast as we could," Covey said.

Emergency rescue workers rushed the scene and searched the river, from the park to about a mile west, near Sprinkle Road,

Kalamazoo County Sheriff Richard Fuller said.

Fuller said. The dive team will go in the water at daybreak.

"We're looking for any possibility that he's alive," Fuller said.

The Kalamazoo County Sheriff's Office, Comstock Police Department and other search and rescue agencies were on the scene.

Jordan's aunt, Laurie Knapp, was at the park, making her way between law enforcement and people waiting to hear the latest news.

People don't often swim in the river, Knapp said. There is a sign that says swimming is not allowed.

"It's very strong," Knapp said of the river. "There's lots of undertow."

She went back and told Jordan it was time to leave.

"I pray they find this kid alive," she said.

Johnson fell into the river less than four hours after a 2-year-old was hospitalized Saturday afternoon after falling into the river near the same site about 3 p.m., according to a release from the Kalamazoo County Sheriff's Office.

The toddler, whose name has not been released, was found downriver and washed up on shore. The child was initially unresponsive but the parents performed CPR until rescue workers arrived.

The child was taken to the Bronson Methodist Hospital and admitted into the pediatric intensive care unit, the news release said. His injuries do not appear to be life-threatening, the release said.

Note: an earlier version of this story had Anthony Johnson's last name as Thompson and his age as 17 instead of 18.