White water rafters flipped off boat

Two US river rafters were lucky to escape injury after the river raft they were travelling in flipped in the Grand Canyon.

Several groups of rafters were travelling through the Grapevine Rapids on the Colorado River in Arizona last month when one of the parties got into trouble.

Footage posted to YouTube shows the raft, carrying two people, get into difficulty in a "hole" on the river.

A hole is where water flowing downstream from the river comes over the top of an underwater object or ledge which causes the water to then flow back upstream against the flow, something particularly dangerous to river rafters.

The boat flips into the air, throwing a male and female rafter into the water in the middle of the rapids.

Video uploader James Li said the water level of the river was extremely low.

"All the oarsmen with prior Grand (Canyon) experience had not seen it that low and remarked many of the rapids became more technical to run due to the additional rocks that were exposed," Mr Li wrote.

Fortunately both rafters were rescued and the raft later salvaged and flipped it back onto its right side.

Source: YouTube

Author: Jack Hawke, Approving editor: Nicholas Pearson