Estherville, Iowa — An eight-year-old child was among six people rescued Saturday afternoon on the West Fork of the Des Moines River, north of Estherville.
Travis Sheridan, Estherville’s Fire Chief, says a 911 call indicated a kayak flipped over and a woman and child were in the water.
Firefighters were able to cut the girl’s life jacket off and rescue her from the river. Sheridan credits the girl’s aunt for keeping the eight-year-old’s head above water.
Firefighters used the department’s rescue boat to bring the aunt, her niece, and four others to shore. Two others who’d been in the river were able to get out of the water on their own. Sheridan says the Emmet County dispatcher was on the phone for 40 minutes, relaying information from the stranded people on the river to rescuers. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources deployed a back-up rescue boat to the scene and the Iowa State Patrol had three drones flying overhead to monitor the situation.
The names of the people who were rescued have not been released.
