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SALT LAKE CITY — National Parks Service officials have identified the man who died in a Dinosaur National Monument rafting accident Saturday, and ruled the cause of death as drowning.
Anthony Vasi, 47, of Newport Beach, California, drowned Saturday, after his raft got stuck on a rock and he and a few other rafters were thrown from it into the water.
Initial reports from the park service stated Vasi was knocked unconscious and remained below the surface for 10 minutes, but this information was incorrect, according the updated news release sent out Tuesday by the park service.
Vasi instead remained above water and responsive, witnesses said, according to the statement. It was when he was being moved by a rescue swimmer from behind the rock into main current that be became unresponsive, park service officials said.
Initial attempts to get Vasi out of the water were unsuccessful, the statement noted.
The incident happened around 12:15 p.m. Saturday while Vasi was with family and friends on commercial rafting trip led by Adrift Adventures at Green River at Triplet Falls, the news release stated. Dinosaur National Monument officials first heard of the boating accident via satellite text message at 12:40 p.m.
Once Vasi was out of the water, another boat helped move him onto a gravel bar downstream of the rapid and CPR was performed on him by members of the rafting trip. Vasi was still receiving CPR up until his care was transitioned to a medical helicopter crew.
The crew pronounced Vasi dead on scene at 1:30 p.m. River flow was about 2,350 cubic feet per second when the raft hit the rock, park service officials said.
Triplet Falls is a remote Class III rapid located along the Green River in Dinosaur National Monument about 12 river miles from the monument’s northern boundary near Gates of Lodore, the news release stated. There’s no cellphone service in the area and it has steep canyon walls that reach 1,200 feet and higher above the river, national park officials said.
