A Massachusetts man died Saturday after falling out of a raft while on a whitewater rafting trip in the West Forks, according to the Maine Warden Service.

Michael Arena, 52, of Lexington, Massachusetts, was on a commercial rafting trip with North Country Rivers, a whitewater rafting outfitter out of Bingham, when he fell out of the raft as they were going through a series of rapids on the Dead River, Cpl. John MacDonald of the warden service said in an email Monday.

Arena was chaperoning a trip with a Boy Scout troop that included his son, according to the Wicked Local Lexington newspaper. In the boat with Arena were four scouts and one other adult chaperone, according to MacDonald.

Jim Murton, owner of North Country Rivers, said Monday that “the rafting trips are safe. There are no problems at all with the trips. It was an accident.” Murton declined to comment further.

Upper Kennebec Valley Ambulance responded and pronounced Arena dead at the scene, MacDonald said. The incident remains under investigation, and no further information was available, he said.


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.