02:15 PM PDT on Thursday, August 25, 2005

Associated Press

EAST WENATCHEE, Wash. -- An apple grower died when he was hit by the propeller of a boat that had been towing him on an inner tube in the Columbia River, authorities said.

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Mario Torres Luna, 35, of East Wenatchee, died Monday evening at the scene beneath the bridge that carries U.S. Highways 2 and 97 over the river, Chelan County sheriff's Sgt. Jerome Moore said.

Torres was thrown from the inner tube as his brother-in-law, Francisco Bazan of Rock Island, drove the 16-foot boat that also contained Torres' wife, 4-year-old daughter and three nieces in rapid circles, Moore said in a news release.

Bazan stopped and two others in the boat began to reel in Torres with the tow rope, but strong currents drew the boat and Torres toward a bridge pylon and Torres got sucked below the surface, where he was stuck by the propeller as Bazan engaged the engine to try to pull free from the current, according to the release.

He and Bazan bought the inboard-outboard boat about a month ago and were cooling off in the river with their families after a day of picking apples in their orchard, Moore said.

Torres died of internal injuries from the propeller, Coroner Dr. Gina M. Fino said Tuesday.