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Plano man drowns at Tennessee park
By Bill Conrad, bconrad@acnpapers.com
PLANO -- A 34-year-old Plano man drowned Monday while tubing at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Park officials said Dick Chijioke was tubing in the Little River when he fell off his tube and drowned. The official said they are not sure what caused Chijioke to fall off his tube.
"He was tubing in a popular area of the park called the Townsend Y," said Nancy Gray, park spokeswoman. "Most of the area is a slow-moving stream, but where he slipped off his tube was in a 12-foot-deep pool."
Due to the more than 700 miles of rivers and streams inside the park, Gray said there are no lifeguards on duty and park officials don't recommend people participate in water activities. However, she said tubing is not prohibited and people can rent tubes at numerous stands outside the park's boundaries.
Drowning is the second-leading cause of death at Great Smoky Mountains National Park, trailing only motor vehicle accidents. Gray said this was the first drowning inside the park this year.
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