Wednesday, November 07, 2001

The Natchez Democrat

VIDALIA – A Natchez man drowned Wednesday morning when he

fell off a barge and into the Mississippi River on the Vidalia

side, authorities said.

James E. King, a 34-year-old deckhand with Vidalia Dock and

Storage, was working on the vessel Carla J., said Petty Officer

Matthew DeGerolamo of the U.S. Coast Guard’s Lower Mississippi

Region office in Memphis.

&uot;They were pushing up on the bank (on the Vidalia side

of the river) when he fell off the barge and was sucked underneath

the barge,&uot; he said.

DeGerolamo said the barge’s operator could not recall whether

King was wearing a life jacket at the time the accident happened.

Authorities said King was not wearing a life jacket when he was

recovered.

The accident happened at about 10:30 a.m. at the north end

of the Vidalia Landing site, just south of West Bank Eatery.

The Concordia Parish Sheriff’s Office received the emergency

call at 10:33 a.m., said spokesperson Kathleen Stevens.

King’s body was recovered from under the barge at 1:08 p.m.

by officers of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.

Managers of Vidalia Dock and Storage could not be reached.