Fisherman dies after boat .......

[Lee Borgersen]

Fisherman dies after boat is sucked into dam’s churn on Mississippi River.



4/5/17

 
A fisherman was killed Friday after his boat was sucked into the churning waters below a dam on the Mississippi River while he rushed to put on his life jacket near the Minnesota-Iowa border, according to police and media reports.

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Witnesses said James Kenneth Freeman, 52, of Lansing, Iowa, and his boat entered the restricted area below Lock and Dam No. 8 near Genoa, Wis., and Freeman was unable to get away from the roiling waters, according to the Vernon County, Wis., sheriff’s office.

 
According to a statement from the sheriff’s office: “The Vernon County Sheriff’s Office received a call of a boat that was close to the rollers of the dam. The operator of the boat attempted to put his anchor down but it did not hold. The caller stated that he told the fisherman to get out of there. The fisherman attempted to get away from the dam but the current was too strong and pulled the boat under the roller gates.”

Freeman was attempting to put on his life jacket when his boat capsized and he went under, according to a report by WXOW-TV in La Crosse.

Further details weren’t readily available. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources was investigating.

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The network of locks and dams along the Mississippi are operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which used the incident as a stark reminder to observe water safety.

According to an Army Corps of Engineers statement: “We had a tragic loss of life incident this weekend at one of our lock and dams where a boater entered the restricted area and was pulled into the churning water at the base of the dam. The hydraulic effect below a dam is incredibly dangerous. With the turned up water, a high powered boat would have a tough time escaping this turbulent water.”