Body of 14-Year-Old Boy Recovered from River in Falmouth

Maine Public | By Ed Morin

Published June 3, 2016 at 3:41 PM EDT

PORTLAND, Maine - Searchers this morning recovered the body of a 14-year-old Portland boy from the Presumpscot River, after the tandem kayak he was in capsized Thursday evening.

Maine Department of Resources spokesman Jeff Nichols says Mohammad Al Ammar was paddling with a friend.

"The other boy was wearing a life jacket and he evidently made it to shore," Nichols says. "However, Mohammed did not, and so that prompted a search that started shortly thereafter."

This is the second time in a week in Maine that a kayaker who was not wearing a life jacket has died. On Wednesday the body of a 37-year-old Massachusetts man was recovered from the Stillwater River in Orono. Muhammad Jamal was kayaking with his seven-year-old niece when the boat overturned. The girl, who was wearing a life jacket, was able to make it to shore safely.

Maine

Ed Morin

Ed is a Maine native who spent his early childhood in Livermore Falls before moving to Farmington. He graduated from Mount Blue High School in 1970 before going to the University of Maine at Orono where he received his BA in speech in 1974 with a broadcast concentration. It was during that time that he first became involved with public broadcasting. He served as an intern for what was then called MPBN TV and also did volunteer work for MPBN Radio.

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