2 Dead and 1 Missing After Plunging From Oregon Waterfall, Officials Say

New York Times

a day ago

Search crews pulled the body of a second woman from the Deschutes River in Oregon on Monday and were still looking for a third person, two days after a group of people plunged from a waterfall, the authorities said.
Three other people in the group were rescued on Saturday above Dillon Falls, west of Bend, Ore., according to emergency responders, who said that a man was still missing and presumed dead.
The search teams were using drones, a helicopter and dogs to look for his body, the authorities said.
It was not clear whether the people had been kayaking or rafting down the river, which Jason Carr, a spokesman for the Deschutes County Sheriff's Office, said in an interview on Monday turns into rapids that are particularly treacherous.
'The chances of anybody surviving going down the falls is very minimal,' Mr. Carr said.
The authorities had not yet released the names of the victims and said it was not clear how they had strayed into the falls, which have about a 15-foot drop.
'There are sections that have some really dangerous white-water and falls,' Mr. Carr said. 'The river above the falls is super calm.'
Around 3 p.m. Saturday, emergency responders received a 911 call that the group of people had strayed into the area of the falls, according to the sheriff. There are several signs warning of danger ahead, Mr. Carr said, noting that there is a spot with a boat ramp for people to safely exit the water.
When search and rescue crews arrived, they found two men and a woman near a lava flow area on the opposite side of the river above the falls, the authorities said. They were taken by boat across the river with what Mr. Carr described as minor injuries.
The body of the first victim, a woman, was pulled from the water on Saturday, according to the sheriff's office.
At the time of the episode, temperatures were in the upper 80s, typical summer weather for the area, Mr. Carr said. From time to time, he said, emergency responders get calls about people getting stuck on the rocks or an island in the river.
'This type of incident,' he said, 'is rare at this magnitude.'