SHASTA LAKE, Calif. — A Portland man drowned while visiting Lake Shasta with a church group Saturday afternoon, the Shasta County Sheriff's Office said.
Deputies said they got multiple 911 calls about a possible drowning in the Hirz Bay area of Lake Shasta around 1:20 p.m. The sheriff's office sent a boat to the scene and said people were already administering CPR to the 44-year-old.
Deputies took over CPR until paramedics arrived. Paramedics used a defibrillator in an attempt to revive the man, but they were unsuccessful and the man was pronounced dead at the scene.
According to deputies, witnesses said the man had grabbed a plastic "pool-type flotation tube" and got in the water. While he was paddling to reach other church group members, he fell into the water, failed to get ahold of the tube and started dipping below the surface.
Witnesses said he was underwater for roughly five to seven minutes before other members of the group found him and took him to shore. He was not wearing a life jacket.
The man's name will not be released until next of kin is notified, the sheriff's office said.
