Two men drowned in separate incidents in Glacier National Park

GREAT FALLS – Two men drowned in separate incidents in Glacier National Park on Saturday, July 6, 2024.

Park officials said a 26-year-old man from India was hiking past the gorge on the Avalanche Lake Trail when he fell into Avalanche Creek around 8:30 a.m. Witnesses saw him fall into the creek, go underwater and resurface briefly before being swept by the current into the gorge.

Campsite staff were on site almost immediately, followed by police officers around 9am.

An ALERT helicopter searched the creek from the air and more than 10 rangers combed the area, but the person has not yet been found and is presumed dead.

Rangers assume that the body is underwater in the ravine.

Due to poor visibility and dangerous conditions, ongoing search efforts are reduced and rangers are monitoring the area.

The water level of Avalanche Creek is very high due to snowmelt and the gorge is extremely dangerous, so rangers are not allowed to enter the gorge.

The young man lived and worked in California and vacationed with friends.

Later Saturday, a 28-year-old man from Nepal was swimming with friends in Lake McDonald near Sprague Creek Campground. According to friends, he was an inexperienced swimmer. He was about 100 feet out when he began to struggle, went under the water and never resurfaced.

The operations center received an emergency call at around 6:25 p.m. and the rangers were on site at around 6:50 p.m.

The Three Rivers ALERT helicopter and rescue vehicle responded but withdrew when park rangers were able to determine the location of the body approximately 0 meters offshore and 35 to 40 feet underwater.

The Flathead County Sheriff’s Dive Team responded and recovered the body around 8:20 p.m.

The man lived and worked in Portland, Oregon and was vacationing with friends.

The names of the two victims have not yet been released. Park officials have asked consulates in Nepal and India for help in contacting next of kin.

This brings the number of confirmed drownings in Montana in the last three weeks to eight, in addition to one suspected drowning – click here for more details.