Crews from the Fargo Fire Department will be back on the Red River searching for a Minnesota State University Moorhead student who went missing Thursday.
Fanuel Shewarega Asrat, 24, was swimming with two other men in rapids in the vicinity of the Midtown Dam — also known as Dike West off 4th Street — about 5 a.m. when he disappeared, Fargo Fire Department Battalion Chief Bruce Anderson said.
The two men made it out of the fast-moving water and lost sight of Asrat. They thought Asrat may have climbed out on the Moorhead side of the river that separates Minnesota from North Dakota. The men went to Asrat's dorm room at Minnesota State University Moorhead hoping he had just gone home. But when he was not there, they notified authorities two hours later and a search began, Anderson said.
For 10 hours on Thursday six firefighters used boats, sonar equipment and search poles in attempt to find Asrat. The Fargo Police Department deployed dogs to search riverbanks, but "we were not able to locate him," Anderson said.
Asrat and the two men were in the water in a place where swimming is highly discouraged, Anderson said.
"We discourage swimming anywhere near the dams because of the current and all the garbage in the water," he said, noting the river depth in the area is about 16 feet.
Asrat has been enrolled at the university since 2013 and a swimming instructor since 2014. He also works at the school's Roland Dille Center for the Arts.
This is the second time a person has gone missing in the Red River in Fargo this month. David Tikayne, 29, disappeared on June 5 about a half-mile from where Asrat was last seen. His body was found in the river 10 days later, Anderson said.
