Three boats go over Bow weir

By TODD SAELHOF, SUN MEDIA

Two men are believed dead in the Bow River after three boats capsized on the city waterway last night.

The 28-year-olds from Quebec were rafting down the raging river with seven friends when they came across the weir just before the bridge spanning Blackfoot Tr.

While four of the rafters managed to paddle to shore before their crafts reached the weir, the five remaining people were swept over the manmade dam in their boats.

Along with two women, Carl Langlais managed to swim to safety, but watched helplessly as his buddies were washed downstream.

"I saw my friends go in the river," said Langlais, visibly shaken by the tragedy.

Neither were wearing lifejackets, said witnesses.

Claudie Tremblay was another survivor of what the fire department fears is a double drowning.

"I was scared," said Tremblay, who scrambled to safety shortly after one of the three boats capsized about 6 p.m.

Many in the group, from Lac-St-Jean, Que., had rafted down the river before.

Langlais said those times there was a boom was in place at the weir to catch boats. Fire officials said the boom broke this week because of the river's high water volume.

Despite warnings and signs telling rafters to exit and portage past the weir, three of the group's boats continued.

Langlais and witnesses said while two of the boats capsized going over the weir, pushing one man downstream, the third stayed afloat but got caught up on a log wedged in the river. It then flipped, taking the second of the two men downstream.

Carolina Menjivar was walking with her four kids and another child when they found the scene.

"I just saw one person floating down the river -- we couldn't do anything to help," said Menjivar through tears.

"And then there was still one guy in one boat and the boat flipped," she said.

"He swam for a short time, and then we lost sight of him, and he was gone, too."

Menjivar said she smelled alcohol on at least one of the survivors.

Divers searched until dusk, but Capt. Dave Clark of the fire department feared the worst.

Submitted on 06/11/2007

Submitted by: Anonymous
Reference: Calgary Sun Monday June 11, 2007

Copyright © 2007 DarwinAwards.com

Bruce said:
Definitely Keep: Darwin Award
I was initially going to toss this as being too common or lacking excellence since this sort of thing does happen fairly regularly, but I changed my mind as I read more of the details. These people seemed to ignore warning signs since they assumed a safety boom would catch them before they reached the dam. Relying on a last-ditch piece of safety equipment that they didn't even verify was in place is about as stupid as it gets, as is not wearing life jackets when rafting in an environment like this. They certainly were displaying a serious lack of judgement. Thanks for sending this in.

James said:
Neutral: Darwin Award
I can't find it in myself to be as enthusiastic about this as Bruce, but I have to concur that too many basic safety measures were violated, and those little things do add up to a DA!

Chip said:
Definitely Keep: Darwin Award
I was also ready to reject as being just another drowning story but the warnings and the fact that most of the party left the water as they were supposed to tipped this in favor of a DA. Thanks for sending the story

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