Two dead on whitewater rafting trip in Idaho wilderness area
Two people died over the weekend while whitewater rafting in a remote Idaho wilderness, according to a news release from the Idaho County Sheriff’s Office.
The news release said emergency dispatchers received a call from the International Emergency Response Coordination Center at around 1:30 p.m. Saturday. The center had received an SOS call from a Garmin inReach satellite communicator device that CPR was being performed on the Selway River between two rapids — Double Drop and Wa-Poots.
The Sheriff’s Office said the area is about 19 miles from the end of the closest road and, because it is part of a wilderness area, is not accessible by motor vehicle.
Life Flight responded and found the CPR recipient dead at the scene.
At around 3:40 p.m., the sheriff’s dispatch received a text to 911 stating that a second person from the same rafting group “had also flipped into the water” and was undergoing CPR. Life Flight also confirmed the second person’s death.
Neither person’s identity has been made public.
Because of the location, Life Flight wasn’t able to remove either of the bodies. The U.S. Forest Service unsuccessfully tried to reach the bodies by mule.
On Sunday, Two Bear Air, a private search and rescue company from Montana, used a helicopter winch system to evacuate both bodies from the river canyon. The Idaho County Coroner’s Office is investigating.
