Man Dies After Falling Into The Icy Chicago River To Save His… Cellphone

A Minnesota man has been pronounced dead after falling into the Chicago River while trying to save his dropped cellphone.

In an early entry for this year’s Darwin Awards, 26-year-old Ken Hoang of St.Paul dropped his phone while walking along the Chicago Riverwalk a little after midnight Monday night and climbed over the security railing in an effort to save it.

Police said they learned from the lone survivor that Hoang was taking photos of the icy Chicago River about 12:05 a.m. Monday when he dropped his cellphone onto the ice, stepped down to retrive it and fell into the water. His two companions, a 21-year-old woman and a 23-year-old man, stepped onto the ice to try to assist him but fell in as well.

Rescue divers were able to retrieve the two males from the river and keep the 23-year-old alive, but the 21-year-old female is missing and presumed dead after hours of searching. The search is set to continue at 9am Tuesday morning.

Via Gawker. Image via CBS Chicago.

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