ELY, Minn. (AP) — Authorities say three teenagers from a Rochester church group had to be rescued after their canoe was swept into a waterfall on the U.S.-Canada border in northern Minnesota.

The Lake County Sheriff's Office says those rescued included a 15-year-old boy who spent several hours trapped in the water Tuesday. Suffering from extreme hypothermia and a leg injury, he was nearly unconscious during the last half-hour of the rescue.

It took over four hours for rescuers to reach and free the 15-year-old boy.

A State Patrol helicopter collected the injured youth then a seaplane flew him to Ely, where he was taken by ambulance to a hospital.

The accident happened on the Upper Basswood Falls in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, where the Sheriff's Office says the teens lost control of their canoe in the rapids at the top of the falls. The 15-year-old got trapped by the damaged canoe, which was pinned against the rocks by the force of the rushing water.

 

 

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His name and condition have not been released.

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