Published: Sunday, Feb. 07, 2010 / Updated: Sunday, Feb. 07, 2010 11:15 AM
Man dies after being pulled from South Fork River in Gaston Co.
GASTON COUNTY, N.C. --
Rescue crews searched the South Fork River Saturday afternoon for two men who were stranded after a kayak accident.
The team pulled an unconscious man from the river and rushed him to a hospital, where he died. His name had not been released.
The other man was located along the bank of the river and refused treatment. He was able to call his wife on his cell phone and let her known that he was fine but his friend was clinging to a tree in the water, officials said.
With the river several feet above flood stage, emergency responders said it also put them in risk.
"It’s very dangerous under the normal conditions let alone the conditions that are out here today,” said Gaston County Emergency Management Director Tommy Almond.
Rescuers said they were able to reach the men quickly because they already had an emergency plan in place.
The North Carolina Department of Wildlife is investigating the rescue as a boating accident.
The South Fork River is one of the more popular paddling routes in Gaston County. Currents were fast a day after a winter storm dropped 2-10 inches of rain on parts of western North Carolina.
Lake Wylie Pilot is pleased to be able to offer its users the opportunity to make comments and hold conversations online. However, the interactive nature of the internet makes it impracticable for our staff to monitor each and every posting.
Since Lakewyliepilot.com does not control user submitted statements, we cannot promise that readers will not occasionally find offensive or inaccurate comments posted on our website. In addition, we remind anyone interested in making an online comment that responsibility for statements posted lies with the person submitting the comment, not Lake Wylie Pilot.
If you find a comment offensive, clicking on exclamation icon will flag the comment for review by the administrators, we are counting on the good judgment of all our readers to help us.