11-year-old killed by boat while tubing at a camp, Michigan officials say

An 11-year-old girl was struck and killed by a boat while tubing at a camp, Michigan authorities said.

A 25-year-old lifeguard and 29-year-old “spotter” took a group of children out tubing on the lake on Wednesday, July 28, at the Michindoh Conference Center in Hillsdale, according to a news release from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

The lifeguard steered the speedboat while the “spotter” kept an eye on the 12 children riding the “banana boat,” an inflatable tube pulled behind the boat, the release said.

The weather had been “favorable for boating,” and all the children wore helmets life jackets while riding the tube on an otherwise empty lake, the Department of Natural Resources said.

At some point, a few of the children fell off the tube and into the water. When the boat returned to pick them up, it struck a child that they had not seen in the water, according to the release.

Immediately, the lifeguard jumped in to help the child, bringing the 11-year-old girl back onto the boat and rushing her to the conference center’s dock, officials said.

Emergency personnel – called by a woman at the conference center – arrived to treat the girl’s life-threatening injuries, according to the release.

Officials said the girl was taken to a nearby hospital where she succumbed to her injuries.

The lifeguard had been certified in boater safety, officials said, and is “cooperating with the investigation.” Officials did not consider drugs or alcohol to be factors in the fatal accident.

Hillsdale is about 95 miles southwest of Detroit, just north of the Michigan-Indiana-Ohio state line.

Michindoh Conference Center did not respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment.

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