A 50-year old Florida man drowned in a kayaking accident on the Provo River in Wasatch County on Tuesday, July 3rd. He missed the take out area and was trapped under water further down river after capsizing. Carolyn Murray has this:
Kenneth Pollack, his wife, another couple and their teenage son were in individual kayaks as they started the float. They had put in right below the Deer Creek Dam on the afternoon of July 3rd and safely kayaked the busy part of the Provo River to just above the Railroad Trestle Bridge. Wasatch County Sheriff’s Deputy, Jared Rigby says there were delays with the group getting off the river when the current pulled Pollack away and carried him downstream to a dangerous section of the river that flows under the bridge.
“There’s a number of ports in that Railroad Bridge that people could potentially pass through if they needed to. This one happened to be , that he was going through, had the fastest, swiftest water. And also to navigate it, it is turned at an angle that makes it more difficult than the others. So it was just a difficult situation for him. He was somewhat new in a kayak and that body of water and all those things together this tragic thing happened.”
Rigby says most people floating on the river walk around the trestle section of the water. He says there was a lot of chaos and Pollack’s group did not know he was pinned under the bridge. They thought he was further down river at the Vivian Park area.
“The river overall is just pretty slow and peaceful. And it is. It’s just in that area, the way that the water turns and with the speed of the water, it combines to have this kind of an effect sometimes.”
Rigby says everyone was wearing life jackets and the group was experienced with kayaking this section of the river.
“And they had told people where they were going and about how long they’d be gone. So, all those things combined together. They did a really good job. Sometimes accidents just happen and that’s why they’re called accidents. They’re inadvertent, they’re unexpected and even with your best planning, things can go wrong.”
That’s Jared Rigby with the Wasatch County Sheriff’s office.