Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service’s swift water rescue team along with a U.S. Park Police helicopter were dispatched to rescue a man found ‘clinging to a rock’ in the Potomac River on Wednesday morning, according to authorities.
The fire and rescue service (MCFRS) and the U.S. Park Police responded to a report shortly before 7 a.m. of a person in the river near C&O Canal Lock 8, spokesperson Pete Piringer wrote on social media. The lock is at 7906 Riverside Drive in Cabin John. “Responders have visual of person clinging to rock, boats, helicopter & land crews making way & converging on area,” Piringer wrote.
After the rescue, the man was evaluated by MCFRS crews for a leg injury and transported to a local hospital, Piringer told MoCO360 on Wednesday morning.
He said a passerby called 911 after hearing someone yelling for help and seeing a person stranded in a rocky area of the river. With the water level low due to the region’s drought, it was likely the man had walked onto the rocks and then slipped and fell into the water, he said.