Alaska News

Photos: Two men rescued from mudflats, barely conscious

Shortly before 6 p.m. Friday, the Anchorage Fire Department responded to a call that some teenagers may be in trouble on the mudflats of Cook Inlet offshore of Elderberry Park.

They pulled two young men off the mudflats, and one of them needed medical attention.

A small group of people was out on the mud when police arrived first. After borrowing a pair of binoculars from an onlooker, officers noted that two members of the group were acting strangely.

The officers watched as one young man tried to help another out of the mud without success. After several tries the first man gave up and retreated back toward the Coastal Trail to find help. The tide -- the second largest in North America -- was coming in.

At that point the Anchorage Fire Department was called to assist with a rescue. The unresponsive male left out in the mud was pulled from the flats and sent to the hospital with a possible case of hypothermia.

Both men are alive, though their names and conditions were not immediately released.

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