A man fell into a river at a popular waterfall site and was trapped by ice and snow for 45 minutes before he was rescued, a New Hampshire fire chief said.
The man, who fell from the Sabbaday Falls along the Kancamagus Highway, was suffering from hypothermia and was unable to hold a rope or pull himself out on Thursday, Conway Fire Chief Stephen Solomon said in a news release. He also was in danger of the current pulling him under the ice.
Two rescue swimmers from the Conway Fire Swift Water Rescue Team jumped in the water and were able to keep him from going under. A rope system was used to pull him and the rescuers out.
Also, bystanders "played a vital role in both keeping this person alive while the swift water rescue team responded and pulling him out when everything was in place," Solomon said.
The man's name was not released.
Swimming is not allowed at the falls, which has a 45-foot total drop with handmade wooden rails and stairways surrounding one side of the falls.
