Montgomery County police Friday said the department is investigating the apparent drowning death of a man who witnesses said was wading in the Potomac River near Great Falls Tuesday before slipping and being taken by a strong current.
Police said 28-year-old Abdul Qadir, of Riverdale in Prince George’s County, was in the water around 6 p.m. Tuesday when he was taken under the water by a strong undertow. Witnesses told officers Qadir didn’t know how to swim.
Police and boat rescue teams from Montgomery County Fire and Rescue immediately began searching for Qadir Tuesday evening and resumed the search Wednesday. Police said a kayaker saw his body in the river at about 11:30 a.m. Thursday between Offutt Island and the Maryland shoreline.
It’s illegal to swim in the Potomac River Gorge, the section of the river that includes Great Falls. In 2013, four people drowned in the section of the river that runs along Montgomery County.
Officials have long warned people not to swim in the river, where powerful currents run beneath the water’s calm surface.
