"These fatalities serve as a tragic reminder of the life-saving value of personal flotation devices," said Auxiliary spokesperson Wayne Spivak.
Four of the five people killed apparently were not wearing life jackets, known as PFD’s (personal flotation devices). Two men and one women, all from the same neighborhood in Bloomington, Minn., died after their small aluminum pleasure boat collided with a moored empty rake barge on the Minnesota River. The boaters fell into the river and were sucked underneath by the swift current near the Interstate 35W overpass.
There were lights at each end of the barge but it was not well illuminated, authorities said. The victims’ boat had navigational running lights but no spotlights.
The accident took place on an industrial stretch of the river that is the site of several shipping terminals.
A sign at the boat launch reads: "Caution. Barge traffic is heavy near this access. Federal and state laws require that you yield the right of way to barges."
Two fishermen heard the crash and attempted to rescue one of the men by throwing a rope to him but had to back out after the current began sucking the anglers under the barge. But by then "the boat had already been sucked underneath," recalled one of the anglers, off-duty firefighter Andrew Wolfram. "It happened that quickly."
Wolfram and his fishing partner, Anthony Voight, aboard a 17-foot Alumacraft with a 75-horsepower engine, then found Burns downstream floating face down. They pulled her into the boat, started CPR and brought her to a boat launch where rescue workers took over in an unsuccessful attempt to revive Burns.
The fishermen then spotted Schwake's body and also pulled it from the river.
Authorities praised the efforts of the two fishermen, both of Prior Lake.
"They did everything they could to save the lives of the victims, and they worked in a calm and purposeful manner," said Dakota County Sheriff Don Gudmundson.
Several agencies, including members of Division 11 of the Coast Guard Auxiliary’s 8th District Western Region, responded to the scene. Sonar detected what was believed to be a boat and body under one of the moored barges.
A tugboat the following morning moved the moored barges, allowing the remains of the wrecked boat to surface.
Searchers were hampered by dark, fast-moving water. Rimanc’s body was not found until the following afternoon, some 18 hours after the accident, a short distance downriver from the crash scene.
The preliminary investigation indicates that besides the lack of use of personal flotation devices, speed and alcohol were also contributing factors in the accident, according to Sheriff Gudmundson.
Emergency personnel at the scene reported an "odor of alcohol" on the victims as they attempted to resuscitate them, said the sheriff. "Not having life jackets on is a factor, naturally — it's a factor in a majority of boating fatalities in Minnesota and all across America," the sheriff told reporters. "Welcome to the Minnesota boating season."
The Hennepin County medical examiner's office says Burns had drowned. Schwake's cause of death was listed as drowning, and blunt force head and neck injuries. A ruling on Rimnac's cause of death was not immediately released.
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