(Des Moines, IA) -- A body was recovered from the Center Street Dam on the Des Moines River this morning. First responders spotted the body in the river Sunday night and were able to recover it this morning.
"It's extremely hard for people to get out. The dam tosses you around, essentially like a giant washing machine," said Captain Tad Stoner with the Des Moines Fire Department.
Stoner explained that escaping a low-head dam is incredibly difficult and often nearly impossible once someone is caught in its current.
"It's a very challenging and almost impossible process to escape a dam once stuck," said Stoner.
Crews were able to recover the body after moving it into a safer position. Stoner said they had to wait until this morning to recover the body so that crews had more resources to safely get it out of the water.
"We have a saying in the fire service that we will risk a lot to save a lot, and risk a little to save a little. So that's the difference in terms of a rescue and recovery—how much we are willing to put on the line," said Stoner.
Police are still investigating and will release more information as it becomes available.