Virginia man dies rafting on Arkansas
Aspen, CO Colorad
SALIDA, Colo. ” A Virginia man is dead after a rafting accident Tuesday on the Arkansas River near Buena Vista.
Chaffee County Sheriff Tim Walker said 67-year-old Oscar Stevenson III of Eastville, Va., was on a commercial rafting trip when the raft overturned at a spot known as Pinball Rapids.
Stevenson was thrown into the water, but a raft guide and other rafters pulled him ashore.
His rescuers performed CPR on Stevenson until emergency crews arrived, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Walker says Stevenson likely suffered a heart attack and stopped breathing.
An autopsy is planned.
Buena Vista is about 95 miles southwest of Denver.
The Arkansas River near Buena Vista is also a destination for Aspen-area rafting outfitters; Buena Vista is southeast of Aspen, over Independence Pass.
