Jun. 14—The two men who died last week during rafting accidents on the Rio Grande in Taos County were on guided trips with different companies — one of them based in Santa Fe — while the river was running higher and faster than it has in years.

The incidents brought the total Taos County rafting deaths to three in one month. Another man died in a rafting accident in early May.

Most recently, a family of three was going through the Racecourse section of the river June 7 with Santa Fe Rafting Co. when their raft overturned, The Taos News reported. A man drowned and a woman was lost for part of the day before being found, the newspaper said.

Authorities have not yet released the deceased man's identity.

"The owners and employees of Santa Fe Rafting express our heartfelt condolences to the family and loved ones," owner Jared McClure told The New Mexican on Wednesday.

McClure said out of respect for the bereaved family, he would give no further information or statements.

Neither the Taos County Sheriff's Office nor county Emergency Services Chief David Varela responded to requests for comment on the incident.

The amplified water flow bumped the rate of difficulty on this stretch of rapids to a Class 4 last week, outfitters said, noting it's usually in the Class 3 range.

Far Flung Adventures, based in El Prado, was guiding a group of six June 3 through the Razorblades section of the Lower Ute Mountain Run outside Questa when the raft flipped, owner Will Blackstock said.

John Matteson, 73, of Loveland, Colo., drowned. Everyone else resurfaced and made it to shore with no injuries, according to a New Mexico State Police spokesman.

Officer Ray Wilson said some of the rafters administered first aid to Matteson but were unable to revive him. A medical investigator pronounced him dead at the scene, Wilson said.

"We're pretty heartbroken over the whole thing," Blackenstock told The Taos News.

The raft overturned at the bottom of the Rio Grande Gorge. Police coordinated with emergency medical, rescue and fire teams from the county and surrounding areas, Wilson said, and were able to get everyone safely to the top.

Earlier reports of the two included some incorrect details, including the rafting outfitters involved.

The incidents were among several fatal rafting accidents in the region this year.

Filmmaker David Bishop, a man with Santa Fe ties who was living in Española, died May 6 while rafting the Racecourse stretch.

In late March, a raft carrying five Texans capsized on the Gila River and killed one of the passengers, the Silver City Press reported. A state police helicopter had to hoist the four survivors to safety.

Last week, a Kansas man died after a raft carrying him and other occupants flipped on the Arkansas River near Sunshine Falls in Colorado, according to news reports.

Outfitters and federal park managers have observed the river flows are ebbing after surging to the highest levels seen since at least 2019.

Still, rapids are hazardous, even at a slower rate, and the water is cold from mountain snowmelt. Authorities say people should take precautions, such as wearing life jackets and wetsuits and assessing their fitness and rafting experience, to avoid injury and death.