WOLF LAKE, MN (trfnews.i234.me) – A 20-year-old man from St. Paul drowned on Saturday evening after a canoeing accident on Wolf Lake in Aitkin County, Minnesota. The Aitkin County Sheriff’s Office reported that deputies were called around 9 p.m. to Savanna Portage State Park, where the lake is located, following a report of a missing canoer.
The 911 caller, who was on the lake with his cousin, explained that their canoe had capsized, throwing both men into the water. While attempting to swim back to shore, the caller’s cousin, identified as Htoo Shwe, panicked and went under the water.
Rescue teams, including a dive unit, arrived within 20 minutes and later recovered Shwe’s body from the bottom of the lake. Authorities confirmed that both men had been consuming alcohol, and neither was wearing a lifejacket at the time of the accident.
The Ramsey County Medical Examiner’s Office has officially ruled Shwe’s cause of death as freshwater drowning. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources noted that this incident adds to the growing number of drownings in state lakes this year, with at least six reported cases as of July.
I’m Alex Stone reporting for trfnews.i234.me