PORTLAND, Ore. — A 72-year-old man is dead after a boating accident on the Columbia River on Sunday afternoon.
Around 11 a.m., a 911 call from a boat alerted that "someone was caught in the propeller," said John Plock, public information officer for the Multnomah County Sheriff's Officer (MSCO.)
When the first responding boat arrived, the man had already been pulled out from under the boat and onto the swim deck. Medics on board declared the man dead on the river.
The MCSO said it believes the man was pulled under the boat after the rope connected to the wakeboard got wrapped around the propeller.
Plock said the exact cause of death is still under investigation. The identity of the man has not been released.
"So, we know that the gentleman was in the water wakeboarding and somehow, he did end up getting pulled, the rope got wrapped around the propeller, and he got pulled under the boat," Plock added.
The man was wakeboarding with a group of people on board and a separate boat nearby. Plock said that they're still talking to witnesses to try and "piece together exactly what may have happened."
"It’s not uncommon for a tow rope to get caught in the propeller of a boat. That does happen," he said. "It doesn’t normally end this way."
The Multnomah County Sheriff's Office encourages people to make the best decisions and be safe when doing tow sports, Plock said. In Oregon, children 12 years old and younger are required to wear a life jacket and boats are required to have life jackets available for each person on board.
"Sometimes accidents happen, unfortunately at this point we don’t really know how this accident happened," Plock said. "We encourage people to make the best decisions they can to recreate safely. Try to have somebody who is experienced with you on the boat so they can help you avoid these situations."
Plock says they should have more information to share either Sunday or Monday.