North Face founder dies in kayak accident

US environmentalist and businessman Douglas Tompkins, the founder of outdoor clothing and equipment company The North Face, died on Tuesday during a kayaking trip in Chile, local health officials said. He was 72.

Tompkins was on General Carrera Lake in Patagonia in Chile with a group of five others when his kayak flipped and he fell into the icy waters, the Aysen regional health service said. Local media reported that he was knocked over by a strong wave.

The service said he was admitted at about 1:30 pm to the hospital in Coyhaique, 1,800 km south of Santiago, but was pronounced dead of severe hypothermia.