Illustrative photo of canoes in the Ardèche gorges. – PDN / SIPA
The intervention of 18 firefighters, divers and rescuers from Smur d’Aubenas did not prevent a tragedy on Saturday noon in the gorges of the Ardèche. In a rapid off Ruoms, a 64-year-old man fell from his canoe, which he shared with his wife. He found himself stuck his boat, stuck between two rocks. Despite the arrival of help, the sixty-year-old could not be resuscitated and died, drowned.
The identity of the victim was revealed on Sunday by The Dauphiné Libéré : this is Christian Armand, mayor for more than twenty-five years of the town of Péron (2,800 inhabitants) in the Ain. Also vice-president in the agglomeration of the Pays de Gex, this father of two children has been described as a “sincere, benevolent, generous and whole” man. by Patrice Dunand, president of Pays de Gex agglo.