Just before 10:30 Sunday morning two men fell into the Mississippi River near the Lake Street Bridge. Police say the men were exploring and taking pictures in a tunnel on the east side of the river. After it started to rain, the tunnel filled with water, and the men were swept into the river.
Authorities say 29-year-old Nick Breid managed to pull himself onto shore. His 30-year-old friend, Ian Talty of Woodbury, was pulled down river. His cries for help were heard by rowers from the St. Thomas Rowing Club, who quickly called 911.
A Saint Paul Police officer and a St. Thomas Rowing Club member jumped into a private boat to search for Talty. They found him about a mile down river face down in the water. They pulled him to shore near Mississippi River Blvd. and Stanford Ave. Medics performed CPR and transported the victim to HCMC, where he later died.
"He was a good dad," Nicole Talty, Ian's wife, said Sunday. She says her husband always went out on Sunday mornings and always brought home "amazing" pictures. Nicole got a text from her husband Sunday morning. "It said I love you. Going in. I knew exactly what that meant because we had talked about where he was going today," she said.
Nicole Talty says her husband had been in the tunnels twice before and knew they were dangerous. "In one hand, I wish he wouldn't have gone of course. But on the other hand if he stopped doing that thing that made him so happy and made him feel good about himself... what kind of person would he have been then? That's not who he wanted to be," she explained.
St. Paul Fire Marshal Steve Zaccard says the area where Talty and Breid were Sunday morning can be very dangerous. "The storm sewers from all over the city all collect into these big tunnels and flow into the Mississippi River," he explained. "It (rushing water) can happen very suddenly, very quickly and the water is very swift, there's almost no escape," he added.
"We've been preaching for years to stay out of the caves and tunnels along the Mississippi," Zaccard said. He also said there have been several deaths caused by carbon monoxide poisoning inside the caves, but drowning is a potential danger too. "The message is to stay out of the tunnels and caves," he said.
(Copyright 2009 by KARE. All Rights Reserved.)
