POINT TOWNSHIP - A man believed to be from Coal Township is dead after jumping from the Barry King Bridge Thursday evening.
Emergency personnel responded at 6:13 p.m. to the middle of the bridge that connects Northumberland Borough to Union County when the man, who police did not immediately identify, stopped the Superior Plus Energy Services heating oil truck he was operating and jumped into the west branch of the Susquehanna River.
In a press release, Point Township Police said witnesses observed the man pull the truck over onto the southbound shoulder of Route 11, before jumping a concrete barrior to a walkway and over a metal railing that protects pedestrians from the edge of the bridge.
The man was observed in the water a short time later, but then disappeared as members of the Sunbury Rescue Hose Company entered the water from the Shikellamy Marina. Rescue members located the man without the use of divers and pulled him onto a boat, which took him to shore.
A witness at the scene said the man was administered CPR.
He was transported by ambulance to Sunbury Community Hospital where he pronounced dead at 7:01 p.m., police added.
The bridge was closed for approximately one hour during the incident. Also responding were State Police of Stonington, Northumberland, Sunbury, Shamokin Dam and Selingsgrove police departments, Upper Augusta and Shamokin Dam fire departments, AREA Services and Americus Ambulance.
A call to Point Township Police and also to Superior Plus, which recently took over operations of the Montour Oil facility near Paxinos, were not returned Thursday night.