Six-year-old dies in Okoboji boating accident

Authorities say it was a central Iowa girl who died Monday when two boats collided on West Lake Okoboji. Six-year-old Kathryn Mills of Johnston was killed when two pleasure boats ran into one another at about 10:30 yesterday. The girl’s mother and two siblings were injured. A total of ten people were taken to the hospital to be treated for injuries sustained in the crash. State officials will not comment on the relationships among people on the two boats, but a 53-year-old woman from Sioux City and a 12 year old with the same last name are among the injured, as is another 12 year old from Sioux City. Three people — all in their sixties — from Spirit Lake were also injured, as was a person from Apple Valley, Minnesota. Rod Slings of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources says the accident will be under investigation for a number of days. Slings says investigators are still piecing together the physical evidence, and some of those involved have been unavailable due to surgeries and treatment in the hospital. Slings says officials will be able to reconstruct the accident, but don’t yet know who was driving the boats when they collided.The crash took place near Manhattan Beach, which is near a point on West Lake Okoboji. Slings says the sun was shining, there was very little wind and for a Monday morning, there was not a lot of boat traffic on the lake. Slings says this is the first boating-related fatality at West Lake Okoboji in 14 years. Here are the names and ages of those injured: Kay McCormick, 53, Abby McCormick, 12 and Taylor Maurer, 12, all from Sioux City; Merlyn DeBoer, 60, Rodney Burgeson, 64 and Lorna Burgeson, 64, all from Spirit Lake; Robyn Mills, 42, Elizabeth Mills, 11 and Andrew Mills, 9, all from Johnston; and Brooke Burgeson, from Apple Valley, Minn. Kathryn Mills, 6, from Johnston, died at the scene.