70-YEAR-OLD DENVER MAN KILLED AFTER RAFTING ACCIDENT ON BLUE RIVER

A 70-year-old Denver man was killed Sunday afternoon after a rafting accident in Summit County.

Around 1:15 p.m., nine people were thrown from a private raft floating on the Blue River, about 2 miles north of Silverthorne, said Charles Pitman, spokesman for the Summit County Rescue Group. The accident happened just north of where the river meets Boulder Creek.

The rescue crews found Charles Emery dead in the water downriver, shortly after the accident, according to the Summit County coroner.

The coroner’s office said that Emery was ejected from the boat accidently. Details about how the nine passengers were thrown into the water were not immediately available.

After finding the deceased rafter, rescue crews were alerted by one of the surviving boaters that several people were missing.

Rescue workers initially were concerned that only two or three of the rafters were accounted for, Pitman said.

The remaining passengers were rescued on opposite sides of the river for about a 6- to 7-mile stretch, Pitman said. One woman was rescued from an island in the middle of the river.

All of the passengers were located, Pitman said.

One of the boaters was taken to a hospital with an injury, but it was not clear how serious the rafter’s injuries were, Pitman said.

The Summit County Sheriff’s Office also assisted with the rescue.