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Father, son die in rafting accident on Arkansas River

PUEBLO – An Aurora man and his son died in a Father’s Day rafting accident on the Arkansas River near Pueblo, officials said.

The Pueblo County Coroner’s Office identified the two victims as 46-year-old Ricardo Valencia Sanchez and 16-year-old Jose Louis Valencia.

They were ejected from the raft on Sunday, police officials said. Strong currents near a dam forced them underwater for several minutes and they became entangled in a rope.

Emergency responders pulled the raft to shore about a mile downstream. They died at the scene and both were wearing life jackets.

A third person in the raft survived.