CLEVELAND – U.S. Coast Guard boatcrews responded after a 25-foot recreational boat struck a breakwall near Ballast Island on the northeast side of Put-In-Bay in Lake Erie Tuesday night, killing one person and injuring two others.
The identities of the three boaters are not being released.
A Coast Guard boatcrew in a 33-foot Special Purpose Craft–Law Enforcement boat from Station Marblehead, Ohio, was already underway in Put-In-Bay for training and arrived at the scene of the accident three minutes after being notified at 10:35 p.m. The boatcrew immediately recovered the two injured people and then located the third person unconscious and unresponsive near the vessel.
A second boatcrew in another SPC–LE from Station Marblehead also launched to assist.
Emergency medical technicians aboard Put-In-Bay police department boats also responded and pronounced the third person who was recovered deceased.
Once the two injured people confirmed only three people had been aboard the recreational vessel, a Coast Guard boatcrew transported them to Catawba Island, Ohio, for further transfer by EMS to Magruder Hospital in Port Clinton, Ohio. Put-In-Bay police officers remained on Ballast Island with the body of the deceased person.
The two injured people reportedly suffered severe head trauma and other injuries. Their current condition is unknown.
There were thunderstorms and rain in the area at the time of the accident, and waves were reportedly about three feet.
Commercial salvage has been contracted to recover the vessel.
The cause of the accident is unknown.
