NILES, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — Police and officials in Niles have identified a man who died after falling into the St. Joseph River.
Officials say that Jean Claude Mutabazi was kayaking with three other people when he fell into the river during the morning of Wednesday, January 1st. A call came in later to authorities that he had fallen in near the Niles Dam and was being held down by the current.
A Facebook post by Niles Mayor Nick Shelton confirmed that three of the four kayakers had been rescued. Two were saved by emergency services while the third managed to get out of the river alone.
The body of Mutabazi was later recovered from the water around 12:30 P.M. later that day, after crews used machinery to free him from the dam.
The identities and current condition of the other surviving kayakers has not been publicly released.
