One person killed when tree falls on boat in Lake Murray, SC officials say
One person was killed over the weekend when a tree fell on a boat in Lake Murray, the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources said Monday.
The death was one of several boating incidents from the weekend in the Midlands and Upstate that are being investigated, DNR said in a news release.
The Lake Murray incident happened at about 1 a.m. near Tom Drafts Point in Gilbert, according to the release. That’s near U.S. 378 in Lexington County.
The driver of a pontoon boat was preparing to dock when the engine cut off, DNR officials said. While the driver tried to restart the engine, the boat drifted into a dead tree on the edge of the lake, which broke off and fell on a passenger, according to the release.
The passenger was identified as Kathryn Grayce Mullins, according to Lexington County Coroner Margaret Fisher.
The 20-year-old from Statesboro, Georgia was taken to an area hospital, where she died of blunt force trauma, Fisher said. No other injuries were reported in the incident.
DNR officials said the death was a “single-boat accident.”
A decision on criminal charges has not been made, according to the release.
There was another incident on Lake Murray that resulted in injuries on Saturday.
At approximately 10 p.m., DNR said it responded to the area of Holly Ferry and Sunny Point in Saluda County for a collision between two boats. A bass boat and a pontoon boat collided, injuring four people, according to the release.
None of the injuries were considered life threatening, but one person is in serious condition, officials said. The other three people have been released from a hospital, according to the release.
Alcohol was not a factor in the crash, which remains under investigation, DNR said.
A tubing accident injured two children Sunday morning on Lake Lanier in Greenville County, according to the release. The children were on a tube being pulled by a 16-foot boat when the tube collided with a docked boat on the lake, officials said.
One of the children is in critical condition, and the other suffered a broken leg, according to the release. Like the other incidents, the tubing crash remains investigation.
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This story was originally published July 20, 2020 at 2:55 PM.
