One person was killed after four people were thrown into the Cache la Poudre River during a commercial rafting trip this afternoon.
Their names, gender and hometowns have not been released.
Two of the three were rescued from a small island in the snowmelt-gorged river, authorities said.
Emergency personnel performed CPR on the person who later died and helicopters were readied to airlift the victim out, but to no avail.
A Larimer County Coroner’s Office autopsy will determine the cause of death, said Larimer County Sheriff’s spokesman John Schulz.
The incident happened about 12:40 p.m. near the Mishawaka Inn, 13714 West Colorado Highway 14, about 25 miles west of Fort Collins.
The spot is popular with rafters, but has a history of trouble, Schulz said.
Last Thursday alone there were three separate rescue operations, but they resulted in only minor injuries, he said.
“The river is running pretty high, and it runs through the rocks pretty fast and there’s a little dip, so it can be challenging,” he said. “When the river is running this fast, there are going to be problems.”
At 2:15 p.m., the river was running “much above normal,” according to the U.S. Geological Survey in Lakewood. River gauges measured the flow at 276 percent of its normal mean.
One of today’s other victims was taken a local hospital with an apparent broken leg, Schulz said. A dive team, search and rescue team, local firefighters and sheriff’s deputies also responded.
When rescuers arrived, two of the rafters, who were wearing wetsuits, were stranded on an island in the river. They were rescued and apparently uninjured, Schulz said.
The four, according to initial reports, were part of a Rocky Mountain Adventures commercial rafting trip. one of several companies that operate in the area.
The river is under partial-use restrictions, but commercial operations are not affected if they comply to certain standards, such as using multi-chamber rafts, Schulz said.
Kieran Nicholson: 303-954-1822 or knicholson@denverpost.com.
