Three Bettsville-area teenagers swam to an island after a canoe capsized in Sandusky River Sunday.
Deputy Troy Gibson of Seneca County Sheriff's Office said a group of people took several canoes rented from Ridgway Canoe Livery on the river, and one with a 19-year-old man, an 18-year-old woman and a 13-year-old girl capsized.
The three people, who were wearing life vests, suffered minor scrapes and scratches from branches as they swam to Abbotts Island and were not transported to a hospital, he said.
Their names were unavailable Monday.
Seneca County Sheriff's Office received the report at 4:30 p.m. Sunday about people flipping a canoe and being on the island about a mile from the livery.
Gibson said after livery employees were aware the people were stranded on the island, they put canoes in the river to get them. The employees transported them to the Abbotts Bridge landing, he said.
The livery put four people in two boats down the river to assist the people in getting off the river, said Mark Smith, owner of the livery.
Old Fort Fire Department was contacted, and officials were planning the rescue when the livery employees took it upon themselves to put canoes in the river and see whether they could locate the people, Gibson said.
"Fire and rescue never did have to respond," he said.
Deputy Christopher Potter estimated the people were stranded for more than an hour. None of the six boaters was experienced, he said.
"The river's flooded," he said.
Potter said he is going to submit the report to the city prosecutor for review.
