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Geneva dam drowning victim identified

The Kane County coroner's office said Monday a Bloomington man drowned in the Fox River in Geneva Saturday afternoon.

Dinesh Sudhakar-Uckoo, 26, was pronounced dead after his body was recovered from the base of a dam early Saturday evening.

He was one of six men from Bloomington who had come to kayak on the river Saturday afternoon, in three two-person rental kayaks. According to witnesses, two of the men seemed unable to control their kayak, and it went over the low-head dam.

One of the men got clear of the dam. Sudhakar-Uckoo was trapped in the dam's boil.

Signs on an overlook on the east bank of the river state people should not come closer than 100 feet to the top of the dam, nor within 50 feet to the south of the dam. There is also a sign on the east bank portage that warns of the dam.

In 2011, a man was fishing off a tabletop rock close to the dam when he drowned trying to save a young companion who had fallen into the river.

A 2008 study commissioned by the state recommended removal of the dam.

Uckoo was a member of the McLean County Indian Association, MCIA President Ajay Kalavala said Monday. Kalavala said Uckoo was single and is survived by his parents and a sister. He worked for an insurance company. “He was very active in the community,” Kalavala said.

His parents live in the city of Hyderabad in the state of Andhra Pradesh in India.

The association is working with the American Telugu Association to make arrangements to send his body home. Contributions to the effort can be made by contacting ourmcia@gmail.com.

Man dies in kayaking accident on Fox River

Fox River low-head dams 'notoriously deadly,' expert says

History of drownings in the Fox River

A witness turned rescuer at the site of a deadly kayak accident in Geneva on Saturday said it was clear that the kayak's two operators were struggling to control the vessel before it plunged over a low dam. Courtesy of Christopher Bui
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