Independence Day weekend was a deadly one in Minnesota

Jul. 6—RED WING, Minn. — At least five people drowned in Minnesota waterways over the weekend through the Independence Day holiday Tuesday.

The deaths nearly double the total drownings in Minnesota waterways so far this year, state officials said Wednesday.

Three people died while swimming in the Vermillion River

near Red Wing on Monday. Additionally, two 20-year-old men died in separate incidents: one in Wright County, Minnesota, Monday; and the other in Clearwater County, Minnesota, Sunday.

The three deaths along the Mississippi River are the first in Goodhue County since 2021. Before Monday, the most recent fatality on the river in Minnesota was June 2 when a 39-year-old kayaker was found after his craft was found capsized May 31.

The holiday and weekend incidents unofficially brings the total drowning fatalities in Minnesota to 12 so far this year, said Lisa Dugan, boat and water safety outreach coordinator at Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Six people have died in boating accidents so far this year as well, Dugan said.

The Goodhue County Sheriff's office were called Monday evening to a family gathering on the northside of Diamond Island on the Vermillion River near Red Wing, Minnesota. The island is bordered by the Mississippi River on the north and the Vermillion River to the south.

A man had been fishing from the shore while three other people were swimming — but they began to struggle in the water. The man dove into the water and pulled one woman to safety. He then dove back in to rescue the other man and a teen. However, all three disappeared in the water, according to the Goodhue County Sheriff's Office.

It was the first drowning the department has responded to on the Mississippi River since Sept. 2021, said Sgt. Jordan Winberg, head of recreational safety at the Goodhue County Sheriff's Office.

That incident happened near the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Lock and Dam 3, he said.

The department responded to no drownings in 2022.

Reports of drownings, boats or swimmers in distress vary year to year, he said.

"Some years we get multiple calls regarding water rescues in the summer on the Mississippi, and other years maybe one or two," he said.

Until Monday, the summer had been relatively quiet so far after a busy winter season.

"This last winter we had a lot of water rescues on the Mississippi River regarding vehicles through the ice," he said. "One instance we had to rescue people from a section of ice that broke away and drifted."

Winberg said the Vermillion River and where it meets the Mississippi River isn't particularly dangerous, but said any waterway has its hazards and conditions can vary.

Dugan recommends wearing a life jacket for people swimming in deep water off of a boat regardless of their swimming experience. She also said people should be especially cautious about swimming in rivers.

"Swimming in rivers means there's moving water, underwater currents, sandbars with drop-offs," Dugan said.

Winberg said people with little to no experience swimming should avoid swimming in natural bodies of water. He recommends wearing life jackets for people who do swim or are going to be around water.

Both Dugan and Winberg stress a life jacket or flotation device should be U.S. Coast Guard approved and that recreational flotation devices aren't adequate safety equipment. Those items can deflate or slip off in the wearer, she said.