Child nearly drowns, two women rescued from river in St. Anthony

ST. ANTHONY – Emergency crews are issuing a reminder about water safety after a young child nearly drowned and two women had to be rescued in the Henry’s Fork of the Snake River in two separate incidents this week.

The first occurred Wednesday afternoon as a six-year-old boy was playing near the St. Anthony Sand Bar swimming hole.

“He was with his mother, she turned around and he disappeared,” St. Anthony Police Chief Terry Harris tells EastIdahoNews.com. “She was able to find him under the water and pull him out.”

First responders arrived and administered oxygen to the child until he was fully breathing on his own.

Crews were called back out to the same area Thursday afternoon when two college-aged women went over a dam.

“They were stranded in the river for about 20 minutes until we could get them out,” Harris says.

Nobody was seriously injured in either incident, but Harris says both situations could have been deadly.

“The water is a lot more powerful and deceptive than people think,” Harris said. “You have to be careful in the water and pay attention to what you’re doing.”

Harris says he’s seen more people at the Sand Bar this year than ever before, and he’s expecting swimmers to keep coming back as the weather warms up.

“Water levels are high right now and it’s hot, so people want to cool down,” Harris says. “I would just caution people to very careful.”