An 8-year-old boy was underwater for about 24 minutes before he was taken from a capsized boat in Massachusetts. He later died at Boston Children’s Hospital on Saturday, July 29, officials said.
Officials with Sudbury Public Schools confirmed the child’s death.
“Nothing compares to the grief and sadness of losing a child,'' Anne Wilson, Sudbury’s superintendent, told Boston.com. The boy was identified as Harry O'Connor.
“While the family is the most impacted, many others share in the profound sadness of this tragic event,” she said.
Coast Guard officials told NECN that nine children and three adults were rescued when a boat near Stony Point capsized.
Someone on a nearby vessel called for help and took the people in the water on board. Martin Van Breems, who was in charge of the rescuing ship, told CBS Boston, “They kept screaming out ‘There’s a kid under the boat, kid under the boat.’”
Harry was found unconscious by a professional diver, Michael Margulis, who pulled him to safety.
“I was reaching and searching through debris. I wasn’t sure what I was looking for and I saw the life jacket,” said Margulis. “I was able to pull through an overturned hull and get a young adult from underneath a bow section.”
The cause of the accident has not been determined.
Eleven other people on board the boat did not suffer serious injuries.
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