Brazilian man, 30, drowns while saving his gospel singer wife from being swept down river - just two weeks after couple survived horror car crash

A Brazilian man drowned while saving his gospel singer wife from being swept away in a river - just two weeks after the couple survived a car crash.

Ricardo da Silva, 30, and his wife Sulamita Alves had joined friends for a day out on the banks of the Tocantins River in Brejinho de Nazarém, Tocantins, on Monday.

Da Silva, who did not know how to swim, noticed Alves was struggling to stay afloat and jumped in the water to rescue her.

However, the businessman was unable to save himself and was swept downstream.

Ricardo da Silva (left) died Monday in Brazil after he rescued his wife and gospel singer, Sulamita Alves (right), from drowning in a river. Da Silva, who did not know how to swim, drowned and was found two hours later by area residents

His body was found about two hours after the incident by area residents.

The couple was from São Paulo and had traveled to Tocantins, where Alves sang at a New Year's Day evangelical church event.

Video footage of the service posted on social media showed Alves singing while da Silva sat in the background.

Friends and family members flooded social media with tributes honoring da Silva.

Sulamita Alves performs at an evangelical church event on Monday as her husband, Ricardo da Silva (sitting right, first row), watches hours before he drowned in a river

Paramedics tend to Ricardo da Silva following a car accident December 15

'Grateful for everything God has done in my life,' musician Kennedy Amorim wrote. 

'Unfortunately, I make this post with great sadness. Thank you for this great opportunity, my friend Ricardo, I will remember you throughout my life. Rest in peace, friend.'

Da Silva's drowning comes after the couple survived a car accident on December 15 when their SUV overturned while traveling to a religious event in Mato Grosso.

Alves posted photos of the accident on her Facebook page which showed the vehicle on an embankment.

'That you, Lord everyone one in the car didn't suffer anything serious, everyone is fine,' she wrote the day after the accident. '… I saw the hand of the Lord guiding us. I never thought I would go through this, people …'