LEWISTON — An 11-year-old boy was plucked out the Androscoggin River on Friday afternoon after he slipped on a rock and fell into the water about 5:30 p.m.
The boy spent about 45 minutes clinging to a branch at the edge of the river before he was pulled into a rescue boat about 6:15 p.m. He was taken to the boat launch before he was brought to a Lewiston hospital for evaluation. Rescuers said he boy did not appear to be seriously hurt.
Police, fire and rescue crews from Lewiston and Auburn responded, struggling to find access to the area in the woods roughly 30 feet from the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Bridge.
Auburn rescue crews launched a boat from their side of the river, while Lewiston crews swarmed on the area, gaining access through Sunnyside Park, Tall Pines, Riverside Cemetery and other points of entry.
Witnesses said it appeared the boy had been fishing when he slipped on a steep rock and tumbled into the river. A younger boy who had been riding his bicycle in the area alerted some passing teenagers.
“He came up to us and said, ‘there’s somebody stuck in the water down there,'” said Ryan Jackson, who had been walking along the walking path through the area.
One of Jackson’s friends called 911 and the response was immediate. Fire crews were able get their trucks to the area from the River Valley Village apartment complex, while others came in on foot through Riverside Cemetery.
While a rescue boat waited nearby, rescuers on the ground navigated down a steep hillside with rope, floats and a variety of other equipment. Others kept an eye on the boy from the top of a rock roughly 20 feet above the water.
Shortly after 6 p.m., rescuers reached the boy, secured him, and eased him into the waiting boat.
The boy’s name is M.J. and he lives nearby, according to his sister, who came to the area when her brother was late getting home.
She said M.J. often comes to the area to play in the woods or to fish. A Lewiston fire lieutenant spoke with the girl, assuring her that her brother was OK and that he would be brought home once he was checked out.
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