A 6-year-old girl has died in an accident after being accidentally run over by her mum’s boat while swimming in Lake Pleasant, Arizona.
Two families in a group of 12 were reportedly on the boat when 911 received a phone call from a distressed family member who said their daughter had been struck by the boat’s propeller at around 11am on Friday. The girl was swimming in Lake Pleasant in Arizona when the tragedy occurred, according to the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office.
The woman unfortunately did not know that the child had entered the water to swim when she operated the boat.
The mum then proceeded to drive the boat, pulling her husband on a wakeboard, when she smashed into her daughter who was “struck by the boat ran over and eventually got a prop cut to her leg.” Police said the dad became concerned when he noticed “something in the water.”
“He and the mother quickly realised their daughter was in the water and had suffered a leg amputation from the boat’s propeller,” the department said in a statement.
The devastated family struggled to find reception to make an emergency phone call, as nearby boaters helped load the injured girl into the boat and rushed her to shore. She was taken to a nearby hospital, where she was tragically pronounced dead.
Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement: “The child was transported to the lake marina by her family, where MCSO deputies and fire personnel met them and immediately began rendering aid to the child and subsequently transported the child to a nearby hospital where she was pronounced deceased.”
Officers said the incident remains under investigation but called it a “tragic accident.” It was revealed all passengers had been wearing life jackets, and none appeared to be under the influence. They were also experienced boaters, according to police. Sgt. Joaquin Enriquez said at a press conference: “Contributing factors that may have led to this incident is a lot of people on the boat.
“We do understand that what may have led to this was maybe they lost track of who was on the boat and who was not on the boat … is it anymore any different from you know, having a party at a house and losing track of your kids?” The tragic incident comes after a mum accidentally ran over her 13-month-old child as she was repositioning her car near Arizona.
The mum called 911 after she confessed she “run over her 13-month-old baby with her car” after she thought she had placed her cat seat a safe distance away. “While repositioning the vehicle, the front tire caught the canopy of the car seat, causing it to fall backwards which led to the infant suffering critical injuries,” the sheriff’s office said.
