WASATCH COUNTY, Utah - A man in his fifties visiting from Florida died Tuesday afternoon after falling out of his kayak on the lower Provo River.
“This gentleman overturned right at the bridge and then the current, the strength of the water kept him under one of the trestles of the bridge,” said Chief Deputy Jared Rigby with the Wasatch County Sheriff’s Office.
The bridge Rigby is referring to is for the railroad. It is a few miles upstream of Vivian Park, roughly at the Wasatch and Utah county line.
“What’s recommended...that they do get out before the bridge. This group was working to do that,” said Rigby.
In fact, Rigby said the group did just about everything right. They were all wearing life jackets. They were trying to get out of the water before the bridge. They had also let people know where they were and when they expected to be back. Unfortunately, the victim was the last person in the group and the others did not realize he had been pulled under.
“For this to happen it’s just tragic and we feel that too here at the sheriff’s office and offer our deepest condolences,” said Rigby.
The man’s name has not been released. The Wasatch County Sheriff’s office said he is in his fifties and had been visiting from Florida.
