Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Woman critically injured, 2 others hurt in boat crash in Chesapeake and Delaware Canal


SEPTEMBER 7, 2015

By Mary Carole McCauley The Baltimore Sun
University of Maryland Medical Center
Labor Day weekend boating trip in busy canal ends in disaster


Three people were injured — one critically — in a boating accident over the Labor Day weekend when a pleasure boat rammed into a marker floating in the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal in Cecil County.

A Pennsylvania woman suffered head trauma in the crash and was air-lifted by helicopter to the University of Maryland Medical Center's Shock Trauma Center, said Candy Thompson, a public information officer for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. The woman, who is in her mid-20s, is listed in critical condition.

The boat's driver, a 27-year-old Pennsylvania man, was cut on his face and was taken to Christiana Hospital in Newark, Delaware. Another passenger, 30 and also from Pennsylvania, was cut on his head and was taken to Union Hospital of Cecil County in Elkton, Md. Thompson said the men's injuries are not thought to be life-threatening.

The boating accident happened at 6:30 p.m. Sunday at the western end of the busy canal, near where it joins the Chesapeake Bay. Investigators are attempting to get a warrant to seize the boat and Thompson said toxicology reports have been ordered. The investigation is continuing.