More Special Investigations From CBS13
Jun 29, 2009 10:32 pm US/Pacific
Man Drowns In American River Rapids
PLACERVILLE, Calif. (CBS13) ―
-
-
Rescuers waited for the water level to fall before recovering the victim's body.
CBS
A man died Monday in the raging rivers in El Dorado County despite taking all possible precautions, according to officials.
The 29-year-old victim was wearing a life vest when he was thrown from his raft on a stretch of the American River called Troublemaker Rapids, according to witnesses, but he never surfaced.
"Kids were playing in the water and I noticed an oar and a life vest floating by," said Chris Fridrich, superintendant of Marshall Gold Discovery State Park.
Six or seven tour guides and tour guides-in-training were tossed into the water in the Class 3 rapids, and the victim never resurfaced. The El Dorado County swift water rescue team came to the scene, but it was already too late to rescue the man.
The rescue team is focusing on recovering the man's body. Officials are releasing less water into the river, lowering the water levels and making it easier to find the trapped victim.
"It happens once every few years," said veteran guide Scott Ligare. "I've been down troublemaker over a thousands times. Hundreds of thousands of people raft through here every year."
Officials say that, sometimes, experience and life vests aren't a match for Mother Nature.
"There's so much pressure and force when you get sucked under water," Fridrich said.
Rescuers recovered the man's body late Monday night. His identity has not been released pending notification of his family.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
New Weapon Against Terror: A Flashlight?
More Local News
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
Reporting
