Accident Database

Report ID#69593

2014-04-13
accident date
5 unidentified rafters
victim
0
victim age
Cheat (2.
river
2. (Canyon) Albright to Jenkinsburg Bridge
section
Pete Morgan Rapid
location
n/a
gage
n/a
water level
IV
river difficulty
Other
cause code(s)
Physical Trauma
injury type(s)
Cold Water, Inexperience
factors
Private
trip type
Raft
boat type
status?
status

Description

5 victims were all paramedics. One had a broken wrist. Masontown VFD accessed the river via the Masontown side; pulled paddlers across the river; recovered the raft and kayak. River level 1.8 at Albright. Boaters rescued from Cheat Canyon A group of boaters were rescued from Cheat Canyon after spending a night on the banks of the Cheat River. Officials retrieved the five boaters Monday morning. Officials say four people were in a raft and one in a kayak Sunday afternoon when they went through a stretch of class 5 rapids known as the Coliseum. The group had been having issues with their raft before the rapids and decided it was best to get off the river and paddled to shore. The group stopped on a stretch of river between Masontown and Albright and built a fire along the banks. One of the boaters climbed up the canyon far enough to get a cell phone signal and call 911. Officials got the call around 8:10 Sunday evening but it was already getting too dark to attempt a vertical rescue. The boaters spent the night on the river bank and firefighters repelled down the canyon Monday morning and found the stranded group. One man was treated for an injured wrist and a woman was treated for hypothermia. All five were co-workers and EMT’s and paramedics.

The website will be temporarily unavailable Feb 8th, Sunday evening around 7:30pm to 8:30pm EST for around 10-15 minutes.