Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Investigation into fatal Thunder of the Narrows boat crash continuing; 1 killed and at least 4 injured



KENT NARROWS

The Coast Guard was continuing its investigation Monday night into the hydroplane boat crash Sunday afternoon on Kent Narrows that killed a 7-year-old girl and left several other people injured.
The Coast Guard had not released the identities of any of those involved as of 7 p.m. Monday, but a GoFundMe posting established to raise money for the family identified the child as Julianne Rosela of Chester. At that point, according to the posting, $23,624 had been donated by 414 people over an eight-hour period.

The accident happened at 4:45 p.m. Sunday near the end of the annual Thunder on the Narrows races, run each year in Hog Bay on the west side of Kent Narrows. Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer David Marin said Monday afternoon that a race boat hit three spectator boats that were rafted in a large group of 12 vessels. The collision reportedly occurred near the beginning of Turn 1 of the oval race course.

There was no word Monday evening as to what caused the collision. The identity of the boat operator had also not been released at that point.

Paul Schlotterbeck, assistant chief of the Kent Island Volunteer Fire Department, which had emergency equipment at the race site as it has in the past, said four people were taken to hospitals — two to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore, one to Anne Arundel Medical Center, and one to the University of Maryland Shore Emergency Center at Queenstown. Their names had not been released as of Monday night.

Coast Guard Cmdr. Michael Keane, speaking at a Sunday night news conference at Kent Narrows, said the boat driver was treated and released.

Marin said more information would be released by the Coast Guard as soon as possible as its investigation goes forward.

Schlotterbeck said that while the fire department always has emergency equipment on-site on land for the races, the Kent Narrows Racing Association had its own rescue crews on the water. “They bring the patients to land and we take over,” which is what happened, he said. Paramedic units from Anne Arundel County, Kent Island, Grasonville, Queenstown, and the Queen Anne’s County Department of Emergency Services also responded, according to Schlotterbeck.

“Our thoughts are with the injured and their families, and our prayers are also with those families,” Kent Narrows Racing Association President Wheeler Baker said in a brief statement Sunday night.

“We have an ongoing investigation into the accident that took place this afternoon,” Keane said at the Sunday night news conference. “We are receiving lots of support from the race organizers.”

It was the 25th anniversary of Thunder on the Narrows, which included the Eastern Divisional Championship of the American Power Boat Association competition, which drew many competitors from as far away as Canada and Michigan.

The GoFundMe posting for Julianne Rosela’s family can be found at http://www.gofundme.com/y4ka84c.