New York Personal Injury News & NYC Legal Current Events

Rafting Trip Ends In Fatality for Cross River Sportsman

Posted on Aug 30, 2011

Dr. Peter Engel, a 53 year old psychiatrist from Cross River drowned on Sunday after he was thrown into the raging rapids of the Croton River. Engel and four other boaters were caught up in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Irene when the river raged at 48 mph.

Engel was said to be an experienced rafter, logging more than 35 years rafting in similar conditions. However, when he was thrown from the raft he did not survive. Engel was pulled from the river after he was found floating facedown. CPR attempts by rescuers were unsuccessful.

River conditions were so dangerous three firefighters were also thrown from their rescue boat as they attempted the rapids to reach Engel and the other rafters. Rescuers reported that conditions were worse than they ever had seen and that anyone attempting to access the river was ‘in jeopardy'.

The three other boaters were identified by police as Michael Wolfert of Croton, Joseph Ceglia of White Plains, and Kenneth Giaquinto of Valhalla. A fourth rafter was identified as Brian Dooley of Yorktown, a third-grade teacher and coach of the boys' varsity lacrosse team at Rye High School. Dooley was later rescued by Croton police rescue team after he was found hanging onto a tree for more than two hours. He was treated at Westchester Medical Center for extreme exposure and hypothermia.

The surviving boaters released a statement thanking their rescuers and clarifying that Engel was indeed an experienced boater. The survivors also apologized for putting rescue teams in harms way during the treacherous conditions of Tropical Storm Irene.

 

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Lever & Stolzenberg, LLP is located in White Plains, New York and serves clients throughout the state, including New York City's five boroughs (The Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan and Staten Island) as well as Westchester County, Rockland County and Long Island. 

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