By Hawaii 24/7 Staff

Hawaii County fire/rescue responded to a 6:28 p.m. alarm to rescue a swimmer in the Wailuku River about .5 miles upstream of Rainbow Falls Saturday (March 17).

A 23 year-old man had been submerged for about two minutes in the river according to witnesses before being pulled to land by bystanders who then started CPR. Due to the inaccessiblity of the area the fire deparment helicopter airlifted the victim via billy pugh net for transport to Hilo Medical Center.

According to a fire dispatch report the victim was in critical condition.

Update to this story here.