Police: 2 'exhausted' people pulled from Des Moines River after raft overturns downtown

Editor's note: The story has been corrected to accurately reflect who performed the rescue and what type of watercraft the man and woman were in. 

Two people were rescued from the Des Moines River Monday night after their raft overturned on a dam downtown, police said.

Des Moines police were called to the bridge near Scott Street Dam around 9:30 p.m. Monday where they were told people were yelling for help, police spokesman Sgt. Paul Parizek said.

Officers found a "small overturned raft," and a man and a woman caught in the water's turbulence who were struggling to keep their heads above the water, Parizek said. 

Police officers used ropes to keep the man and woman above water before more officers arrived and helped pull the "exhausted" victims to shore, he said.

Lt. Chris Clement, spokesman with the Des Moines Fire Department, said the two were in a small rubber raft when they went over the lowhead dam at Scott Street. 

Two water rescue teams were dispatched from the Harriet Street boat ramp to assist in the rescue, but the man and woman were pulled from the water before the lifeboats could get there, Clement said. 

Both were in stable condition when they were taken by ambulance to a local hospital, he said.

Both were wearing safety vests which police said helped keep them alive, Parizek said

"It's an appealing section of the river," Clement said, listing its proximity to downtown. But he said it's also a very dangerous section of water thanks to two lowhead dams near Center Street and Scott Street.

His water rescue team perform a lot of trainings near the area because of the "unique and heightened risks" the dams present thanks to their strong back current.

"If you get caught in that it will pull you into the dam and then circulate you under the water," Clement said.

His department calls the area below the dams "Maytags," a comparison to the washing machine company.

Clement recommended anyone boating on the Raccoon or Des Moines Rivers stay well upstream or well downstream of the dams.

"Avoidance is the real key when it comes to the downtown area," he said. 

Anna Spoerre covers crime and courts for the Des Moines Register. She can be reached by email at aspoerre@dmreg.com, by phone at 515-284-8387 or on Twitter at @annaspoerre. Follow the Register on Facebook and Twitter for more news.

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