Four Mercer University students were rescued from a gator-infested swamp late Monday night, after several hours lost on a middle Georgia river.

The students, two women and two men, dressed only in bathing suits, lost their way while floating on inflatable rafts down the Ocmulgee River near Macon.

The students told rescuers that they at times waded chest-deep in the swamp, trying to find a way out, according to the Macon Telegraph.

The swamp is home to alligators and wild hogs. “They don’t know how blessed they were,” Sgt. Mitch Scott, of the Macon-Bibb Fire Dept., told The Telegraph. “There are gators down there that would eat you whole.”

Read more here: http://www.macon.com/2013/09/03/2643075/college-students-rescued-from.html#storylink=cpy

They drifted four or five miles down the river before calling for help around 9 p.m. Monday. Macon-Bibb firefighters pulled the students from the water more than two hours later.

Rescuers tracked a GPS signal from the group’s one working phone, the Telegraph reported.

Three of the students are from Georgia, and one is from Florida.

About the Author

Keep Reading

Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth, among others, will no longer be considered fee-free days at U.S. National Parks. While the MLK National Historic Park in Atlanta doesn't charge admission, the new schedule will affect such metro Atlanta sites as Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park. (Miguel Martinez/AJC)

Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez

Featured

Ceudy Gutierrez reads a book to her 2-year-old son, Matias, at their home in Buford, GA, on Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025. Ceudy Gutierrez is struggling to make ends meet for herself and her three young kids following her husband’s ICE arrest earlier this fall. (Miguel Martinez/ AJC)

Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez