TAGGART — River rafters who were dumped into the raging Weber River on Saturday are praising the swift response of emergency personnel.
“They’re awesome,” said Rohit Sharma, a University of Utah research assistant from New Dehli, India.
Sharma and 15 others from out of the country, including from India and Germany, were in two rafts floating down the river. As they approached the bridge that crosses the river near Croydon, the rafts crashed into the shore under the bridge and flipped.
“I reacted and took deep breath as I went under,” said Sharma, who has rafted down the river before. “Then I floated to the top and (laid) on my back until I could get out.”
He and others who were able to get to the riverbanks called 911 at 12:10 p.m. asking for help in rescuing the rest of the group because not all are not good swimmers.
Some of the group were picked up at Croydon by emergency personnel, others floated down the river to Taggart, and still others were rescued near Devil’s Slide.
Emergency personnel could be heard on the scanner counting the number of people they had at each location.
When they all finally were together, hugs were exchanged and tears fell.
If all of the rafters hadn’t been wearing life vests, Morgan County Chief Deputy Sheriff Kevin Edwards said, “we could have had a different outcome.”
Edwards said the rafters brought their own gear and were not on a guided tour.
As emergency personnel helped the floating rafters, more people coasted by in kayaks and rafts.
Traffic going east on Interstate 84 was closed for a short time while a medical helicopter landed, then took off. It was brought in as a precaution because, at one point, emergency personnel weren’t certain all of the upended rafters had been located.
Emergency personnel from Morgan and Weber counties and the Utah Highway Patrol aided the group.
A mother and her 2-year-old child were taken by ambulance to a local hospital as a precaution.
Edwards said the mother held the child above her head until she was helped out of the river. “She (the mother) swallowed a lot of water.”
The river is still running high, he said, and the water temperature is cold.
Every summer, rafters hit the Weber River in that area, but this is the first time so many ran into trouble, Edwards said.
Despite the accident, Sharma said he plans to go rafting again.
“I’m very adventurous.”
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