Man Pulled From N.Y. River After an Hour in Water

Aug. 31--CADYVILLE -- After more than an hour of searching Sunday, rescuers pulled a man from the Saranac River who had leaped off a bridge and not resurfaced.

According to Clinton County Dispatch, a call was received around 4:25 p.m. Sunday from a person reporting that a friend had jumped off the Oxbow Bridge and had remained underwater after several seconds.

Rafts were deployed into the river, and divers used goggles to look beneath the surface, as firefighters looked on from the bridge.

A group of young people also watched from a distance.

Around 5:50 p.m., searchers pulled the man from the river. He was taken by ambulance to the University of Vermont Health Network, Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital in Plattsburgh.

Cadyville Volunteer Fire Department and EMS responded to the emergency, along with Morrisonville and Saranac volunteer fire departments, Morrisonville-Schuyler Falls Volunteer Ambulance Service and State Police.

The name and condition of the victim, reportedly in his mid 20s, were not available Sunday night.

Jumping from the long-closed Oxbow Bridge and the adjacent cliffs is a popular activity; it is also considered a dangerous one.

Multiple Facebook comments after the report of Sunday's incident called for barring access to the span because of the risks it poses.

Lindsay Beth said that after multiple times of seeing teenagers gathering near the bridge that it was "only a matter of time" until someone was hurt.

Facebook user Jeff Schiff said he used to party around the bridge as a teenager until a friend died there.

"I don't know why they don't tear down the bridge," he said.

Email Ben Rowe:

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