PITTSBURGH — A man’s body was recovered from the Allegheny River on Sunday.
Allegheny County dispatchers say emergency crews were called to the area of the Rachel Carson Bridge at around 2:20 p.m.
Police say they received reports of a man in the water on the Downtown side of the river.
Two River Rescue boats responded to the scene. A team of three divers found the man on their fourth attempt.
Eliza Kissel of Millvale and Zane Mosholder of Tarentum were walking along the river when they saw all the first responders and the dive team.
“I didn’t really know what was going on,” Kissel said. “I was just concerned about why there were so many people standing around.”
Mosholder said, “It looked like they were pulling something out of the water. A little bit of concern. I was hoping no one was hurt. Besides that, there were a lot of people on the bridge looking down. A bit odd. We didn’t know what to think of it but was hoping everyone’s OK.”
The man was pronounced dead at 3:50 p.m.
“That’s unfortunate,” Mosholder said. “That’s what we were hoping wouldn’t have been the situation.”
Police are investigating what led up to the incident.
Jacob Tirk, who lives nearby, said he was talking to a witness who told police the man fell into the river from a bench.
“He came through here on a walk or run, saw a man sleeping here right along the river with his coffee that’s still over there,” Tirk said. “As the man came walking past again, he saw the man right in front of him fall into the river.”
Many people are thinking about the man’s family.
“A really devastating outcome for what happened, so prayers to his family whoever they are if they’re out there,” said Emily Mong, who was on her way to see Tirk at the time of the incident. “It’s heartbreaking.”
The Allegheny County Medical Examiner is investigating the cause and manner of the man’s death.
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