Officials have wrapped up their unsuccessful search for a man who went missing in the Farmington River on Tuesday, according to police.
Nasir Alam, 24, of East Hartford was last seen in the river somewhere in the vicinity of the Farmington-Avon town line. He was among the seven people tubing on the Farmington River this afternoon when a storm hit, capsizing the tubes and sending them into the water, according to police.
Police said they've done everything they can, exhausting their efforts with the ground search along bridges and banks. They also searched by helicopter, but said the water is still too dangerous to enter.
"Right now, our plan is to noitor the water levels and the water flow," said Lt. Marshall Porter of the Farmington Police Department. "And as that happens, as we evaluate that, we can determine if we can conduct further searches."
Alam's parents have spent the day outside the police command post, anxiously awaiting news of their son.
"I'm hoping that he's just hurt on the side of the river bank, waiting for somebody to find him," said Alam's mother, Linda. "I'm not going to accept the fact that he's dead until I actually see a body."
"God bless if anybody finds him alive anywhere," said his father, Shah.
Local
It was determined through interviews that the seven individuals entered the river on tubes in the area of Route 4 and Route 179 in Burlington.
Farmington and Avon police and fire personnel responded to the area of Farmington Avenue and Huckleberry Hill at 3:45 p.m. Tuesday after a neighbor heard the group shouting for help and called 911, police said.
According to police, the other six tubers in their early 20s have been found safely and were treated for minor scrapes and bruises at the scene.
Officials believe Alam does not know how to swim and said that neither he nor his friends were wearing life vests.
Police said the group brought their own tubes to the river yesterday, and recovered boxes indicating that the tubes had been recently purchased.
Anyone with information is asked to call Farmington Police at 860-675-2400.
