NORTHAMPTON — An intense search for a swimmer who was reportedly hit by a boat was underway for several hours Tuesday afternoon in the Oxbow section of the Connecticut River.
Several boats were out searching on the Oxbow, while a dive team stood by, Northampton Police Detective Sgt. Corey Robinson said. A Massachusetts State Police helicopter circled overhead.
Northampton Police got a report sometime after 3 p.m. of a boat running over a swimmer, and officials spoke with at least two witnesses who said they saw it happen, Robinson said at the scene.
Officers appeared to be interviewing bystanders, and yellow police tape roped off a section of grass by the riverbank along Old Springfield Road.
Police said they didn’t find any clothing or a car that could have belonged to the swimmers, Robinson said. As of 5 p.m., the crew was still searching.
“We’re trying to piece this all together,” Robinson said.
Daviana Rivera said she was fishing on the Connecticut River Oxbow shortly after 3 when she noticed a boat headed toward a lone swimmer. “They are going to hit them,” she recalled telling her brother, Luis Aguaiza, who was also there.
Rivera and Aguaiza both said they saw the collision of the boat and the swimmer, who they said had been in the water for 20 to 30 minutes. Rivera called 911.
“We all saw him get hit — we all heard him get hit,” Aguaiza said. He pointed to a red pontoon boat still in the water near shore that he said hit the swimmer.
“The noise sucked the most,” Rivera said. “It was really loud.”
Greta Jochem can be reached at gjochem@gazettenet.com.