Anna-Sofia saw the boat being pulled down the cliff in Kilforsen in Sollefteå

A boy has died and two men are feared dead after their boat plunged straight into a waterfall in Kilforsen in Sollefteå municipality. 

Even before the accident, residents in the area reacted to the fact that the boat was out – the water was too high. 

– Then we saw that they were getting too close, we tried to warn them, but they didn’t manage to get away, says Anna-Sofia Kulluvaara, 45. News, reports and analyses in Sweden and around the world.

The accident occurred late Sunday afternoon in Kilforsen at a place called Spegeldammen near Sörmoflo west of Näsåker.

– It’s called the Mirror Pond for a reason, says Anna-Sofia Kulluvaara, who lives by the water and was one of those who witnessed the accident.

She describes water that can lie still like a mirror, but which can become very dangerous at high flows.

The past week has seen unusually high flows.

– We don’t have our boat or sauna raft in the water right now. The water is too high and the currents are much stronger than normal, she says.

“Oh no, just don’t get too close”

Earlier in the day there had been a music festival at Kilforsen’s beach, which brought together both locals and visitors, writes Tidningen Ångermanland.

Even before the accident, people at the riverbank reacted to the boat.

– When you saw the boat, you thought, “Oh my, as long as they don’t get too close to the cliff,” says Anna-Sofia Kulluvaara.

– We kind of tried to wave at them, shout, to get them to go inland, that they were too close. But then it didn’t work, they were pulled down into the waterfall.

Before the accident, Anna-Sofia perceives it as the men in the boat noticing that they had come too close and trying to get away.

– They never had time to panic as we saw it. It just happened. There’s no way to react.

She describes the boat as an eka, a smaller fishing boat, with an outboard motor.

– It was a regular fishing boat. When the water is still, it’s like a lake here, so you don’t have a fancy motorboat to take out to sea.

There were four people in the boat, a boy in his early teens, and three adult men. The boy was taken to hospital but his life could not be saved. One of the men managed to get ashore and the other two are still missing.

– You could just see how the water grabbed the back of the boat, and how these four people were trying to cling on, says Elenor Åhman, 29. 

The rapids are about 400 meters long and the height of the waterfall is about 15 meters.

When the boat plunged into the waterfall, they started running along the riverbank. Elenor’s partner called 911. She and her father took the path along the water and then saw one of the men. He was conscious and had escaped with minor injuries.

– He had managed to get up onto the rocks. He was dizzy and not feeling well. He had been spinning around in the water so he probably didn’t really have a clue what had happened and had swallowed a lot of water, says Elenor, who sat with him for most of the time.

During the day, the search for the two men continues, including divers and dogs. Elenor and her partner and parents have been out trying to see if they see anything more.

– But we haven’t seen anything. Yesterday we saw the pieces of the boat, at the end of the rapids. It feels terrible, so terrible.