ST. GEORGE — A 23-year-old man drowned after the canoe he was riding in overturned and pinned him against a culvert in the Virgin River Friday morning.
The man and two friends put their canoe into the river in Washington and were headed for Bloomington at about 6 a.m. They made it about 200 yards when they hit an object in the water that overturned the canoe, said Washington City Police Chief Jim Keith.
Two of the men were able to free themselves, but Jonathan Ziegler became wedged between the canoe and a concrete culvert, and the force of the water kept him from escaping, Keith said.
One of the men went to a nearby home and called 911.
A construction worker in the area used a backhoe to temporarily dam the water to relieve the pressure against the canoe. Keith said Ziegler drowned before rescuers could free him.