PEEKSKILL – A Putnam County man drowned in the Hudson River after he assisted his seven-year-old niece as family members were on a boat and attached raft off Peekskill.

Authorities said the 52-year-old’s body was found and recovered a distance away south of the where the incident occurred Friday evening.

The man had gone out onto the river with his two nieces, ages 11 and seven, and a nephew, the twin brother of the seven-year-old.

The tragedy occurred while the annual Peekskill Celebration, a community festival, was being held on the waterfront nearby.