Two 18-month-old twins drowned in a canal in Arizona after their mother tried to swat away a bee and let go of their stroller, police in Yuma said. Alexis Keslar was walking with her sons, Eli and Silas Keslar along the canal bank on Friday when she was distracted and the stroller tragically rolled away from her into the canal. Keslar desperately tried to rescue her sons, but police have said finding a way down the steep banks proved too difficult and she watched helplessly as the strong current swept her children away. Tragedy: The twin 18-month-old boys who died after falling into a Arizona canal this weekend have been identified as brother Eli and Silas Keslar. Pictured above on their first birthday with parents Alexis (left) and Mark Keslar (right) Eli and Silas were pulled from the water one hour later and rushed to hospital where they were pronounced dead. 'No parent should ever have to lose a child, you know, let alone both of them at the same time,' family friend Marlene Gleim told CNN. 'That's what really, really is heartbreaking to me, because those little boys were, you know, meant so much to so many people.' While authorities in the southern Arizona town officially identified the victims, a Go Fund Me page was set up for the parents, Mark and Alexis Keslar. Marlene Gleim, a friend of the boys' grandmother Marlena Martinez, set up the page after learning about their deaths on local media. The fund to cover memorial and medical costs for the boys has already raised more than $20,000. Too young: Authorities revealed on Monday that the two boys ended up in the canal because their mother was fighting off a bee . Waterway: Visible in this picture of the Yuma Canal are its steep banks. Along other parts of the canal there is a strong current running too . 'I would consider them family, and family is not always blood-related,' Ms Gleim told the Yuma Sun. 'I'm extremely… I'm at a loss of words with all of this.' After the tragic reason the boys died was revealed, authorities cautioned others on the seemingly benign canal. 'Many people typically do not comprehend how swift the current in these canals are and how deep the water can be,' Yuma police said. 'They also do not realize how difficult it is to climb back up many of the canal embankments.' Emergency: Above, the scene were the two boys were pulled out of the canal Friday morning in Yuma, Arizona . The toddlers are believed to have fallen in the water at 9.45am on Friday. After a police search that lasted more than an hour, the brothers were pulled from the water. They were flown by a U.S. Marine Corps helicopter to a Yuma hospital, where they were pronounced dead, Franklin said. The area along the canal is used by families for walks and by joggers and a family member was nearby when the boys ended up in the water. Yuma Fire Department spokesman Mike Erfert said their crews were called out on a possible drowning. Tragic: Eli and Silas are pictured above in a recent photo posted to their grandmother's Facebook page . Touching: As of Sunday, the fund to cover memorial and medical costs for the two boys had raised over $10,000 . Helicopters from the U.S. Border Patrol and the Marine Corps also flew over the canal searching for the boys. The Border Patrol helicopter crew spotted the brothers in the water, Erfert said, and they were pulled out at about 11.20am. Paramedics began immediate life-saving efforts and the boys were quickly loaded onto the Marine Corps helicopter for the trip to the hospital.
Police in Yuma, Arizona, revealed that tragic accident was caused by a bee .
Eli and Silas Keslar were pulled from a canal in Yuma, Arizona on Friday .
Mom, Alexis Keslar tried to save her children but currents swept them away .
GoFundMe page set up for family has raised $20,000 over the weekend .