Emergency personnel were dispatched to the Lehigh River this afternoon for a man in distress after a near drowning. The incident began around 4 p.m. when a woman called in the incident of a man in distress who fell into the river.

She reported another man saved him and the two were on an island near the Palmerton exit. Members of the Palmerton fire department assisted by the Lehighton fire company dive team searched the river but were unable to find a victim. Assisting at the scene were the Palmerton ambulance and Lehighton paramedics.

PA Boat and Fish Commission officer Scott Christman searched the Lehigh near the Route 873 Bridge. The water was so shallow rafters were walking their rafts down the river.