Two women in their 20s were lucky to escape with scrapes and cuts after their tandem kayak capsized just off the American Tourister plant, leaving it and them pinned under the Palmer River bridge Wednesday afternoon.

Warren Harbormaster Ed Cabral said the women, who were not wearing life jackets, were paddling on an incoming tide when they were overcome by the current, which is notoriously strong in the upper Warren River. After the kayak capsized they were able to grab and hold on to the pylons under the bridge.

Luck was on their side, Mr. Cabral said, as a woman at the American Tourister complex saw them capsize just south of the bridge. She called for help, grabbed a rope and ran up onto the Barrington-Warren bridge to try to lower a rope down. As Mr. Cabral and Harbor Patrol members launched a small boat from the Palmer River and Warren Fire Chief James Sousa headed to the scene, a DEM officer who happened to be driving over the bridge at the time stopped and assisted.

Mr. Cabral said rescuers were able to get a line to the women and safely got them to shore after a few minutes. Apart from scrapes and cuts from the bridge pylons, they were in relatively good shape, he said. The kayak remained pinned up against the pylons, and the harbormaster returned to retrieve it after the tide slacked off later that evening.

"They are very fortunate they didn't end up in a very bad place," he said.