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An Illinois man drowned after getting stuck in the mud while walking through the Turnagain Arm mudflats in Alaska over the weekend. Authorities said that 20-year-old Zachary Porter was with a group of friends when he sank up his waist in the thick mud about 100 feet from the shore.
As the high tide started to roll in, his friends tried to pull him out of the mud and called 911 when they couldn't free him. By the time rescue workers arrived at the remote area, Porter was already submerged by the incoming tide.
Another person who was with Porter had to be airlifted to the hospital with hypothermia.
Kristy Peterson, the administrator and lead EMT for the Hope-Sunrise Volunteer Fire Department, warned that the mudflats can be dangerous and that while the mud may look solid, it "can suck you down."
"It's big, it's amazing, it's beautiful, and it's overwhelming," Peterson said, according to Fox News. "But you have to remember that it's Mother Nature, and she has no mercy for humanity."
Officials had to wait until the tide receded so they could recover Porter's body.