A man drowned after getting caught in a current and going over a waterfall at a national preserve Thursday in Alabama, authorities said.
He was identified as Michael Andrew McCollum, 18, NBC affiliate WVTM of Birmingham reported, citing the National Park Service.
An email to a park service spokesman seeking comment from NBC News was not immediately returned Friday night.
Hoover High School in Hoover, Alabama, on Facebook said it was saddened by the death of McCollum, a recent graduate, and expressed condolences to his family and teachers.
The incident happened around 5:20 p.m. Thursday while the man was floating on the river above the Little River Falls with friends, the park service said in a previous statement.
“The individual’s friends got off the river approximately 80 feet before the waterfall, but the individual was caught up in the current and last seen going over the waterfall and he never resurfaced from the pool below,” the park service said.
Rangers, a rescue squad, medics, sheriff’s officials and state troopers all responded, and divers recovered the victim’s body at 6:37 p.m. Thursday, the park service said.
Little River Falls is within the Little River Canyon National Preserve, which is in the northeastern part of Alabama. The park’s website says that Little River Falls is a 45-foot waterfall.
