One man was taken to the hospital after he said he fell into the Housatonic River in Shelton overnight.
He did not appear badly injured.
Shelton and Derby rescue boats were sent into the river at about 4:15 a.m. after a 911 call reporting up to six people were in the river in the area of Indian Well State Park.
The call was first thought to be a capsized boat in the river. Then authorities thought a van with four people in it had crashed into the river, based on their interviews with the man.
The reports set off a large search, with Seymour and Oxford fire departments joining in.
Getting the boats into the water wasn’t easy because of ice in spots.
A bevy of ambulances were stationed at Indian Well State Park in Shelton in case victims were pulled from the water.
The incident was hugely confusing as authorities had a hard time getting information from the man. Initial radio dispatches indicated the man had an “altered mental status.”
There was also a language barrier between the man and his rescuers.
Eventually the story became:
The man, who was not identified, was walking to work with three or four other men in the dark. He fell into the river — but the group kept walking.
No one could locate the men who were allegedly walking with him.
Where the man fell into the river wasn’t clear, but he said he pulled himself out of the water somewhere in the area of Birchbank Road in Shelton and knocked on a door asking for help.
A Shelton boat picked him up and brought him back to Indian Well, where he was placed in an ambulance.
He was shivering and appeared disoriented.
Crews began leaving the Indian Well staging ground at 6 a.m.