Man dies in wakeboard accident in north Portland

PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) – A 72-year-old man is dead after a wakeboarding accident on Sunday morning in the Columbia River near the west end of Government Island, according to the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office.

At 11 am, emergency responders received a 911 call saying a person had been injured by a boat propeller. When Fire & Rescue medics arrived, they found the man already dead. His body was brought to the M. James Gleason Boat Ramp, where he was transferred into the care of the medical examiner’s office.

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Family and friends are mourning the loss of 32-year-old Carissa Larkin, who was killed in a shooting incident on July 25.

According to deputies, witnesses said the man had been water wakeboarding.

At some point, the wakeboard tow rope became tangled with the boat’s propeller and then dragged the man underneath the boat, where he suffered a traumatic injury to his head. He was trapped under the boat for about five minutes before the people with him were able to pull him out of the water, deputies said.

The medical examiner’s office will determine the official cause of his death, and his name will be released at a later time.