TURNERS FALLS — The man who drowned in the Connecticut River near Migratory Way on Saturday evening has been identified by the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office as 21-year-old Worcester resident Hermes Mariano Almonte Villar.
Turners Falls Fire Chief Luke Hartnett previously said the victim was swimming with others at the Rock Dam, about a quarter-mile walk from Migratory Way, when he went underwater and failed to resurface. Hartnett explained that a Montague Police Department dispatcher received a “frantic” call just before 6 p.m. and the victim died despite first responders’ efforts to revive him with CPR.
Hartnett had described the incident as an all-hands-on-deck situation, drawing a response from his department, the Montague Police Department, the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, the Gill Police Department, the Northfield Dive/Rescue Team and the Greenfield Fire Department. Additionally, the Bernardston Fire Department provided station coverage in Greenfield and the Montague Center Fire Department covered the Turners Falls station.
The greatest challenge, Hartnett had said, was reaching Villar while fighting the river’s strong current.
“One of our big warnings is that people should avoid swimming in the river because of the undertow,” Hartnett said, noting how much the divers experienced being pulled by the current themselves. “On top, it may seem like docile water.
“Without life jackets and protective equipment, people should not be swimming in the river,” he emphasized.
CPR was administered after first responders reached Villar and got him to shore. According to Hartnett, Villar was taken by American Medical Response ambulance, with CPR continuing during transport, to Baystate Franklin Medical Center in Greenfield. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.
A second ambulance with Northfield EMS also responded, Hartnett added, to transport someone on shore who, “due to the nature of the incident, began to hyperventilate [and] have difficulty breathing.” She was taken to Baystate Franklin and is all right, Hartnett said.
No emergency personnel were injured during the response, Hartnett said.
Welman Hernandez-Diaz, 35, of Worcester, drowned in the Connecticut River in the area of the Rock Dam in Turners Falls in August 2020.
