Austria man dies in Alaska pack-rafting accident

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – An Austria man has died in a pack-rafting accident in Alaska.

National Park Service officials say 22-year-old Aidan Don of Salzburg, Austria, died Thursday in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve. His body was recovered Friday from the Nizina River.

Don and a friend were dropped off by plane Thursday around a lake at the base of the Nizina Glacier for a daylong trip on the river.

Officials say the novice pack-rafters became separated a few miles downriver. The surviving rafter made an emergency call for help after seeing Don’s capsized raft but no sign of him.

According to officials, aerial searchers located Don’s body and also picked up the survivor. Because of the difficulty reaching the body, a helicopter was required to recover the body the next day.