A man drowned in the Blackwater River just north of Rocky Mount on Saturday afternoon after the canoe in which he was riding capsized, police said.

The name of the 38-year-old man from Franklin County was not immediately released, pending notification of his family.

The man was traveling on the river with three other people about 2 p.m. in the Wirtz area near U.S. 220 when the boat capsized, said Lt. Karl Martin, district supervisor for the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries' conservation police.

The man got caught in turbulent water near a dam and was unable to get out, Martin said. The other canoeists, who included friends and family, threw him lines but could not pull him out. All were wearing life vests, he said. Martin said that water levels were high and heavy rainfall earlier in the week caused the turbulence.

Parts of Franklin County reported 2 to 5 inches of rainfall Thursday and Friday, according to the National Weather Service, and the Blackwater River was reported as out of its banks.

-- Jorge Valencia