BETHEL — A Maryland woman drowned Wednesday evening when the canoe she and her family had rented overturned in the Androscoggin River.
Xiaolian Ding, 75, of Silver Spring, Maryland, drowned after she became trapped under the canoe at about 5:30 p.m., according to Mark Latti, spokesman for the Maine Warden Service.
Ding, her husband, Nimin Wang, 82, and her daughter, Qiong Wang, 49, all of Silver Spring, had just started their trip downriver when the canoe became stuck on a rock, according to Latti.
Nimin Wang was paddling from the stern, with Qiong Wang paddling at the bow and Xiaolian sitting in the middle.
Nimin and Qiong tried to push the canoe off the rock, and as they did it overturned, with Nimin and Qiong thrown out and Xiaolian trapped underneath as it floated downriver.
The accident happened in a stretch of the river off North and Hemlock Ridge roads.
Latti said the father and daughter were able to get the canoe and Xiaolian to shore while a witness on the opposite riverbank called 911.
Xiaolian was unresponsive once on shore, and efforts by Nimin and Quiong to revive Xiaolian were unsuccessful, as were later efforts by Bethel Rescue emergency workers.
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