LAUREL – Authorities report nine young adults were rescued Saturday from the Yellowstone River.
Yellowstone County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Kent O’Donnell say they had put in the river at Sportsman’s Park boat access with the plan to float to Riverside Park in Laurel.
Six males and three females were pulled from the river a little before 6 p.m. and were floating on what he called “Walmart specials” when a thunderstorm came through and they decided to get off the river and onto an island.
One of the rafters was able to call her father, who instructed her to call 911 so they could track her GPS location. Rescuers waited until the storm passed before launching at Riverside and traveling upriver to locate the group.
Laurel Fire, Yellowstone County Sheriffs and the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation responded to the scene and a Sheriff’s Office boat was launched as well as citizen’s boat with a firefighter on board.
It is still unclear whether any of them we wearing life jackets while on the river.
-Nikki Porter reporting for MTN News
