UNIMAGINABLE

Man Stuck in Alaska Mud Flats Dies in Truly Nightmarish Circumstances

Zachary Porter’s friends were with him when tragedy struck.

A young man died after getting stuck in tidal mud flats in Alaska over the weekend, authorities said. Zachary Porter, 20, of Lake Bluff, Illinois, was walking on the Turnagain Arm estuary when he sank into the silt, becoming stuck waist-deep in the mud. His friends tried to pull him out of the quicksand-like silt but were unable to free him, with one of the group calling 911 for help. Despite their efforts, the tide came in before rescuers could free Peterson, and he drowned on Sunday evening. His body was recovered Monday. Kristy Peterson, the administrator and lead EMT for the Hope-Sunrise Volunteer Fire Department, said the mud flats “can suck you down,” and that: “It looks like it’s solid, but it’s not.” “I’ve really got to warn people against playing the mud,” Peterson added. “It’s dangerous.”