Three Missing Sunday Night After Accident on New River

By John Hingsbergen April 4, 2011:

Three men are still missing following a boat accident yesterday on the New River. As of Sunday night, names of the five men had not been released, pending notification of their families.

National Park Service Rangers received a report shortly after 5:00 pm Sunday that a Jon boat with five fishermen overturned on the New River near Meadow Creek in Summers County. Two of the boat’s occupants swam to shore but three remained missing Sunday night.

Units from the National Park Service, the West Virginia State Police, the WV Department of Natural Resources, volunteer fire departments and the Region 5 Dive Team worked until 9:00 PM when search operations were suspended due to the hazards of a night-time river search.

The Park Service says the New River is flowing at about 9,600 cubic feet per second, and the water temperature is approximately 50 degrees. Recovery operations are scheduled to re-start Monday at 8:00 a.m. The Corps of Engineers plans to reduce the flow from the Bluestone dam to assist search teams in their effort