Accident Database

Report ID#69294

2001-08-06
accident date
Bernd Knorr
victim
39
victim age
Arkansas
river
D. Railroad Bridge Launch to Buena Vista
section
Frog Rock Rapid
location
700 cfs
gage
Low
water level
III
river difficulty
Swim into Rock or Sieve
cause code(s)
Does not Apply
injury type(s)
Other
factors
Commercial
trip type
Other
boat type
status?
status

Description

On August 6th Colorado’s Arkansas River was the scene of a tragic double drowning. The river was running a low 700 cfs when Bernd Knorr, 39, and his wife Jennifer, 36, rafted the Class-III Frog Rock Section with a commercial outfitter. The Rocky Mountain News reported that their guide veered to the right to avoid a raft ahead of them that got stuck on a rock. Their boat flipped after hitting a badly undercut rock downstream. The pair fell out of the raft, were carried deep, and pinned beneath it. Their bodies were recovered later that day. There was a reference in the article to four other private rafting fatalities on the same river, but we have no information on them. Anyone who can help is urged to contact us. http://tinyurl.com/bwla3