TOWNSHIP 2 RANGE 10 – A 53-year-old Massachusetts man died Sunday afternoon shortly after a commercial rafting accident on the West Branch of the Penobscot River.
Walter Cruz of Seekonk, Mass., was a passenger on one of at least seven commercial rafts taking a white-water rafting excursion offered by New England Outdoors when the accident occurred about 11:30 a.m., according to Lt. Doug Tibbetts of the Maine Warden Service.
The warden service was notified about the incident at 12:09 p.m., according to spokeswoman Deborah Turcotte.
The rafts were below Abol Bridge at Pockwockamus Falls when five people, including Cruz, fell out of the raft they were in. Shortly after Cruz was brought back into the raft, he lost consciousness for a short period of time, Tibbets said.
“When they got Mr. Cruz pulled into the raft, he began to have an apparent medical issue,” Tibbetts said. “He became unconscious momentarily.”
Wardens performed CPR in an effort to resuscitate Cruz at the scene but were not successful, Turcotte confirmed.
Cruz, who was rafting with his 15- and 17-year-old sons from Coventry, R.I., was taken by ambulance to Millinocket Regional Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 12:41 p.m. by Dr. Joe Aquialina.
“The cause of death is unknown at this time,” Tibbetts said.
The state medical examiner’s office will examine Cruz to determine the cause of death, according to Tibbetts.
Cruz was taken to Lamson Funeral Home in Millinocket. His family has been notified.
On Sunday, Tibbetts warned boaters and rafters to exercise caution while on the Penobscot, which he said has high, fast water that still is extremely cold.
Turcotte said Sunday’s incident was the first boating-related death of the 2008 boating season.
At this time last season, there had been three deaths related to boating.
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