Woman dies in kayaking accident near Corrales

Boat flips in Rio during family outing

A Fourth of July river outing turned tragic for an Albuquerque-area family Tuesday morning when a 46-year-old woman died in a kayaking accident in the Rio Grande near Corrales.

Cmdr. Tanya Lattin of the Corrales Fire Department said a family of seven — five adults and two children — were in a couple of kayaks and a canoe when one of the kayaks hit an eddy caused by a tree. The disturbance flipped the craft and sent the woman into the water.

Lattin said the two children and the other adults are all safe. The names of the woman and the other family members were not released Tuesday.

“The family is requesting privacy during their time of

grief,” Lattin said.

Rescue crews were dispatched about 10:45 a.m. on Tuesday.

Lattin said a family member dialed 911, and dispatchers activated “Code Raft,” an emergency alert for river rescue operations. Fire teams from Rio Rancho, the town of Bernalillo, Sandoval County, Corrales and Bernalillo County responded.

Dispatchers also activated the Rio Grande Basin Heavy Technical Rescue Team, which has members from Corrales, Rio Rancho and Sandoval County.

The teams had kayaks and trained rescue swimmers. They arrived within 15 minutes after the 911 call.

The incident happened near the north end of the village of Corrales. Family members were still in the area searching for the woman. Rescuers saw her body and knew she was dead. They recovered her body less than a half-mile downstream from where the kayak flipped.

Lattin could not confirm whether the woman died of drowning.

“That will be up to (the Office of the Medical Investigator),” Lattin said.

However, she said no alcohol or drugs were involved.

Everyone in the kayak was wearing a life jacket, but the woman’s jacket was not on her when her body was found.

“We don’t know what caused it to come off,” Lattin said.

She said the river level was “not particularly high” but it was more than 6½ feet deep in the area where the tree caused the eddy.

“We have shallow areas and very deep areas in the river,” Lattin said.