A Massachusetts mother died after trying to save her 6-year-old son who fell in a river. Officials are working to recover his body.

• A Massachusetts mother died trying to save her children, officials said.
• Her family was fishing on Deer Island when two of her kids fell into the Merrimack River.

A Massachusetts mother drowned while trying to save her son, who fell off a boat while fishing earlier this week, officials said.

The Newburyport Fire Department said that a family of six — including four children — were fishing Thursday night on Deer Island in Newburyport, Massachusetts when two of the kids slipped into the Merrimack River, resulting in the mother jumping in to save them.

With the help of a fishing vessel, the unidentified woman was able to get her 7-year-old girl onto the boat, according to the department. However, she was not able to get on.

"The mother went underwater and was not able to resurface. Rescuers located the mother and were able to bring her out of the water," the department said, adding that she was unresponsive.

She was taken to a local hospital and was pronounced dead, officials said.

"We're still continuing to search in hopes that we'll recover the 6-year-old. Again as time goes, it becomes less and less likely and we'll be in a recovery mode," Newburyport Fire Chief Christopher LeClaire said, per NBC Boston. "But we'll continue to put our best efforts forward to see if we can locate the child."

Local rescue teams and first responders shifted their search to a recovery effort, officials said Friday.