A Montana man died in a boating accident at Glacier National Park over the weekend.
According to the National Park Service, Ronald Newton, 62, died after falling into the water when his pontoon boat flipped Saturday.
A Park Service news release said Glacier rangers responded to a report of a medical emergency near Glacier Run on the North Fork of the Flathead River.
After traveling about 2 miles upriver to Fool Hen Rapids, rangers found air ambulance staff working to revive Newton, a resident of Columbia Falls, Montana.
According to witnesses, Newton was part of a group floating the river Saturday. When two pontoon boats tied together became stuck on a rock, Newton tried to free them from his own boat. When his pontoon boat flipped, he was submerged in the water.
A friend recovered Newton from the water and several bystanders initiated CPR on a nearby gravel bar. Reports indicate he wasn’t wearing a personal flotation device or helmet at the time of the accident.
Bystanders and medics performed CPR for more than one hour, but Newton died at the scene.
His cause of death is still undetermined.
