October 13, 2008

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- Authorities say a teen's hand was severed by a "zip line" that he and his friends were using to slide into the Saluda River.

Major Larry Shea of the Lexington County Sheriff's Department says it happened about 2:30 p.m. Sunday on the nylon rope line, about 85 feet long, that the teens had made.

He says a 16-year-old boy was sliding down it and somehow got his hand caught between the rope and a wire or cable running parallel to it, causing a 'traumatic amputation' above the wrist. Shea did not know which hand was severed. The boy was taken to Palmetto Health Richland.

The hand fell into the water, was recovered by witnesses and was brought to the hospital in a cooler.

Shea did not know the condition of the youth or whether attempts were being made to reattach the hand. He said authorities were not immediately releasing the boy's name.

A hospital spokeswoman said Sunday she could not provide any information on the case.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)