Updated and Video added.  Scroll down.  

IN LJUBLJANA, SLOVENIA, DOZENS OF RESCUERS ARE WORKING ON the River Sava this morning following a tragic accident involving two large canoes.  So far, seven bodies have been pulled out of the river and five more are still missing.  Two survivors were transported to a hospital Thursday evening, but one of them later died, bringing the death toll to 8.

There is a new hydro-electric dam being built on the river and soon a section of it will be permanently under flood as the dam gets higher.  A group of local officials organized a river trip along the scenic stretch and called it “The Final Descent.”  Four large canoes started down the fast-moving river amidst a bit of fanfare and live tv coverage.

As they approached the construction site, two of the boats pulled over to the shore.  But the other two apparently decided to “ride out the rapids” approaching the low dam. 

Delo News

STA, the state-run Slovenian Television Agency, reported:

Slovenian TV journalist Goran Rovan, who had been in one of the safe canoes, told the state-run news agency STA that the other canoes capsized and broke apart when they hit the whitewater passing through the dam gates.

The occupants fell into the river and were sucked by the rapids into the underwater tunnel leading to the generator turbines.

Slovenian TV showed chilling footage Friday of the canoes entering the dam, followed by the sound of screams. Then the kayaks broke up, overturned and capsized.

Rovan said people rushed over and managed to help the two who had reached the shore, but could do nothing more because of the river’s dangerous currents.

He told STA that almost none of the victims wore life vests.

 
Rescuers continue to search for the
missing canoeists near the dam Friday morning.
(Reuters photos)

A local mayor, who is also a member of parliament, was one of the victims.

Update, 8 pm Eastern:
At the moment, the casualty count remains the same …. 8 dead, 5 missing and 1 hospitalized.

This is the Slovenian Television Agency video.  It was taken by an STA journalist who was in one of the boats that used good sense and did not go over the spillway.  You can see the victims blithely paddling cluelessly over the brink.  It’s only about a 3 ft. drop, but the hydraulics broke the boats and sucked them into the churn.

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