1 Dead, 7 Injured In Two Separate Boat Accidents Off Kent Island

KENT ISLAND, Md. (WJZ)--A child dies, seven people are hurt--following two separate boating accidents off Kent Island Sunday afternoon.

Amy Yensi has the latest on the investigation.

Rescue crews were able to pull most of the victims from the water, including the child, who died at the hospital. But the search for one missing boater continues.

What started out as a celebration by the water took a turn for the worse. Police say a child is dead, a man is missing and seven people are hurt after two separate boating accidents off Kent Island.

In the first incident, a racing boat crashed into a crowd of onlookers.

"There was a boat collision during one of the power boat races this evening with one fatality and three injuries," said Michael Keane with the U.S. Coast Guard.

The racecourse crash happened during the "Thunder on the Narrows" race as spectators looked on.

Maryland Natural Resources Police say three of the victims were taken to a trauma center, including a seven-year-old child who later died.

"There was no loud bang or anything like that. It was just the emergency boats were coming over," said James Slonena.

Visitors say the staff at the Kent Island Yacht Club is trying to help the impacted families cope.

"They're really trying to make sure they have a lot of respect for the family of the people who were injured," Sean King said.

Some in the crowd had no idea something was wrong until the rescue crews began pulling people from the water.

"I saw one person pulled out quickly, rushed up here. The second person, we saw an oxygen mask put on them," Slonena said.

Just a few miles away, a second accident happened near the Bay Bridge.

The Coast Guard is still searching for a missing boater after his vessel capsized in the Chesapeake Bay.

Four people were rescued after the boat flipped Sunday evening. The fifth person on board, a 32-year-old Silver Spring man, is still missing.

Boaters are stunned at how quickly the race to win became a race to rescue.

The child was flown to the trauma center, but unfortunately, did not survive. The conditions of the other people who were injured are still not known.

The "Thunder on the Narrows" race is an annual event. This is the first time a crash like this has happened.