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Two rafters treated after accident near Old Snowmass in Colorado

Staff report

Two people were taken to the hospital Monday, June 15, after they ended up in the Roaring Fork River while on a commercial raft trip, according to authorities.

Four people from a Florida family were on a trip with a guide when their raft encountered trouble. Basalt Fire Department’s Swift Water Rescue squad was mobilized at 11:09 a.m. with a call of two missing rafters, according to Richard Cornelius, division chief with the department. All five occupants were out of the raft, he said. No details were available on the nature of the incident.

“Some people had spotted a blue raft go past Wingo Junction with no people,” Cornelius said.



Shortly after the squad was mobilized, the missing people were discovered near the Old Snowmass Bridge, he said. When authorities arrived, three of four people from the raft were on the north bank. The guide and the fourth person were on the south bank.

Cornelius said a Florida family of four was on the raft trip. The parents were taken to a hospital for treatment of hypothermia. They had on wet suits.



“In this case, they both wanted to be transported” to the hospital, Cornelius said. A juvenile and young adult, children of the couple, weren’t taken to the hospital for further care but, they were upset about their parents and Cornelius personally took them to the hospital.

Cornelius said river runners should be aware of the high flows on area rivers and wear helmets and life jackets. A person died on a private raft accident on the Colorado River near Glenwood Springs last week.

Also on Monday, the Fire Department was called at about 3:30 p.m. to a residence in the Thomasville-Meredith area for an accidental gunshot wound. A 67-year-old man reported he shot himself with a pistol. Volunteers from the Thomasville station responded almost instantly to the residence 23 miles up Fryingpan Road and transported the man to Valley View Hospital. Cornelius said the man’s injuries were non-life threatening.


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