An Illinois man who had been walking on tidal mud flats in an Alaska estuary reportedly drowned over the weekend after becoming stuck as the tide came in.
The Lake Bluff man was there with friends on Sunday night when he was submerged up to his waist in the quicksand-like silt.
The body of Zachary Porter, 20, was recovered Monday morning.
Authorities told The Associated Press that a member of his group had called 911 when they could not get him out, but that it was too late.
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One man who tried to save him was flown to Anchorage with hypothermia, Alaska Public Media reported, citing troopers.
A channel flows through the mud flats along the Seward Highway and Turnagain Arm in Alaska on Oct. 25, 2014. Authorities said, a 20-year-old man from Illinois who was walking Sunday evening, May 21, 2023, on tidal mud flats with friends in an Alaska estuary, got stuck up to his waist in the quicksand-like silt and drowned as the tide came in before frantic rescuers could extract him. (Bob Hallinen/Anchorage Daily News via AP)
“It’s big, it’s amazing, it’s beautiful, and it’s overwhelming,” Kristy Peterson, the administrator and lead EMT for the Hope-Sunrise Volunteer Fire Department, told the agency. “But you have to remember that it’s Mother Nature, and she has no mercy for humanity.”
She responded to the call and spoke with others in Porter’s party but did not speak with him directly. Peterson explained that they got the rescue call after Porter was in serious trouble, urging people to dial 911 as soon as possible.
Another department — which is located around an hour’s drive away — also responded to the incident.
A group of surfers ride the Bore Tide at Turnagain Arm on July 15, 2014, in Anchorage, Alaska. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
The accident occurred near the community of Hope, which lies across Turnagain Arm. The 48-mile-long estuary carved by glaciers is a 90-minute drive away from Anchorage. It parallels the Seward Highway, which is the only highway that goes south.
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At low tide, Peterson said that Turnagain Arm is known for its mud flats that “can suck you down.”
“It looks like it’s solid, but it’s not,” she noted.
When the tide comes in, the silt gets wet, loosens up and create a vacuum should a person walk on it.
A view across the Turnagain Arm in Alaska. (Photo by: Loop Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
There are signs posted warning people of dangerous waters and mud flats.
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At least three others have gotten stuck or drowned there over the years, and many more people have been rescued.
Earlier in the month, a fisherman was rescued after his leg became stuck, and he sank up to his waist.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
