Members of the New Hampshire Fish and Game dive team prepare to deploy into the Merrimack River from a ramp behind Delta Dental Stadium in Manchester after someone reportedly jumped off the Granite Street Bridge early Tuesday.
Members of the New Hampshire Fish and Game dive team prepare to deploy into the Merrimack River from a ramp behind Delta Dental Stadium in Manchester after someone reportedly jumped off the Granite Street Bridge early Tuesday.
Members of the New Hampshire Fish and Game dive team prepare to deploy into the Merrimack River from a ramp behind Delta Dental Stadium in Manchester after someone reportedly jumped off the Granite Street Bridge early Tuesday.
Paul Feely/Union Leader Staff
Members of the New Hampshire Fish and Game dive team prepare to deploy into the Merrimack River from a ramp behind Delta Dental Stadium in Manchester after someone reportedly jumped off the Granite Street Bridge early Tuesday.
Paul Feely/Union Leader Staff
Members of the New Hampshire Fish and Game dive team prepare to deploy into the Merrimack River from a ramp behind Delta Dental Stadium in Manchester after someone reportedly jumped off the Granite Street Bridge early Tuesday.
Crews have recovered the body of a man who apparently jumped off the Granite Street Bridge into the Merrimack River in Manchester early Tuesday, officials confirmed.
Fire Chief Ryan Cashin said his department’s search efforts transitioned from a rescue to recovery operation around 10 a.m., with the person in the cold water for several hours at that point.
“We got multiple reports that someone jumped,” Cashin said. “It is our belief that someone jumped. At this point we have transitioned to a body recovery effort.”
About 7:10 a.m., emergency dispatchers received calls reporting a possible jumper on the Granite Street Bridge, Cashin said. Manchester fire crews were dispatched at 7:12 a.m., arriving on scene about six minutes later.
Callers reported an adult male had jumped from the south side of the eastbound span of the Granite Street Bridge.
Witnesses on the bridge reported seeing the man jump and watching for approximately 200 meters before losing sight of him in the water, fire officials said.
Manchester fire crews launched boats and focused on the area from the bridge southerly to the boat ramp behind Delta Dental Stadium. Engine and truck companies searched the shoreline along the river on foot while Manchester police searched with a drone.
“We deployed into the river, and also searched both sides of the Merrimack River as well,” Cashin said. “We had no contact with the person that jumped.”
Cashin said New Hampshire Fish and Game was notified, and a dive team was dispatched to Manchester to help with the recovery efforts.
Fish and Game divers began searching the river around 11:15 a.m., and around 4 p.m. reported they had located the man’s body approximately 600 yards down from the Granite State Bridge.
The name of the man was not released Tuesday afternoon pending notification of next of kin.
Cashin said the water level in the Merrimack River was high, but the current is “reasonable for this time of year” and didn’t hinder search efforts.
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