A Valley Stream, New York, man drowned today while rafting on the Lehigh River.

Carbon County coroner Robert Miller on Saturday evening said he was in the process of notifying the man’s next of kin and could not release his identification.

Lehigh & Lausanne Rural Volunteer Fire Company chief Timothy E. Rossman said emergency crews were dispatched at about 1 p.m. Saturday.

Initially, firefighters understood a 5-year-old had fallen out of a raft.

“But when we got there, it was determined to be a 33-year old male,” Rossman said.

“He was visible from the shore line, but was under the water, and had had a very long extended down time. We had (Lehighton Fire Department’s) dive team come in.

“We strung ropes across the river with the help of the rafting company, commandeered a raft, and retrieved the gentleman from the water,” he said.

Rossman and Jim Thorpe Fire Department chief Vince Yaich both said the man’s foot had become caught in rocks.

“He had his foot wedged. Apparently, he had dangled his feet over the raft, and one foot got wedged in a rock and pulled him right under. The current is very, very swift,” Rossman said.

The drowning happened about halfway between Glen Onoko and Glen Haven Junction, at mile marker 113 on the Lehigh Gorge Trail.

“It took about an hour to retrieve him, due to how hard he was wedged in there,” Rossman said.

“By the time we got out there, and located him, it was a recovery effort,” Yaich said.

“Jim Thorpe Fire Department and Lehigh and Lausanne assisted the divers with ropes and anything else they needed for the recovery,” he said.

Yaich said the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission is in charge of the investigation because it happened on a waterway.

The man was rafting with Pocono Whitewater, Yaich said.

Rossman,who had heard that rafting guides may have asked the man to keep his feet in the raft, had a word of advice for rafters.

“Listen to your river guides when you are out on rafting trips. It may save your life,” he said.