TAMPA BAY, FL -- The life of one jetskier was taken and several others were hurt in a series of boating accidents that kept rescue crews busy all along the coastline on this July 4th holiday.
In the most serious a man was killed just south of Bradenton Beach this afternoon when his jetski capsized and he drowned. According to Manatee EMS spokesman Larry Leinhauser, the man and his wife were riding in the waters north of Longboat Pass when their watercraft capsized. Both were caught in the currents and the man was swept underneath a parked barge.
The man didn't resurface and his body was found by rescue crews a short time later. His wife wasn't seriously hurt. Their names weren't released but Leinhauser said they were in their 30's.
Then around 8 pm the Coast Guard had to rescue a women off Anclote Key, near Tarpon Springs, after her jetski collided with a anchored 23-foot boat just after 7pm. A Coast Guard helicopter hoisted Kimberly Folk out of the water about a mile off shore and took her to Tampa General Hospital.
And in Dunedin a 43-year-old Wanda Pipes of Columbia, South Carolina was injured after two jet skis collided about 100 feet north of the Dunedin Causeway Bridge around 11:30 am.
Officials said she was a passenger on one of the watercraft. Investigators said one of the drivers was going at a slow speed and had difficulty steering and hit the 2nd jetski.
Pipes was ejected from her vehicle and later taken to Mease Dunedin Hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
