by India Today World Desk: A 20-year-old youth got stuck in sand-like silt up to his waist and drowned as soon as the tide came.
The deceased has been identified as Zachary Porter, a resident of Lake Bluff, Illinois.
His body was recovered Monday morning, Alaska State Troopers spokesman Austin McDaniel told The Associated Press.
The accident was the latest tragedy at Turnagain Arm, a 48-mile-long (77-kilometer-long) estuary formed by glaciers long ago that runs southeast from the Anchorage area and parallels a major highway.
The estuary is known for its dangerous mud flats made of silt created by glacier-pulverized rocks.
At least three other people have been trapped and drowned there over the years. Several others have been rescued, including one who went fishing last month.
“It’s big, it’s amazing, it’s beautiful, and it’s overwhelming,” said Kristi Peterson, administrator and lead EMT for the Hope-Sunrise Volunteer Fire Department, Alaska. “But you have to remember that this is Mother Nature, and she takes no pity on humanity.”
The accident happened near the Hope community, where about 80 people live. It’s located just 22 miles away in Turnagain Arm – but a 90-minute drive from Anchorage.
The estuary heads southeast through the Anchorage area and parallels the Seward Highway, the only highway that travels south and transports tourists from Anchorage to the skier’s paradise of the Kenai Peninsula.