Fairfield County

13-Year-Old Girls Knocked Unconscious After Tube Smashes Into Yacht in Long Island Sound; 1 Breaks Pelvis: Officials

Two 13-year-old girls were hospitalized, one with a broken pelvis, after the water tube they were being pulled on in the Long Island Sound Sunday smashed into the side of a 69-foot yacht, throwing them face down into the water, authorities say. 

Police say the girls were on a two-person tube being pulled by a Nautica rubberized ribber tender, which is a smaller, inflatable motorized boat, off Jennings Beach in Connecticut's Fairfield County around 4:30 p.m.

Minutes into the ride, their tube slammed into the side of the yacht and they were flung, unconscious, according to police, into the water. People aboard the yacht, including the father of one of the victims, jumped into the water to rescue the two girls and brought them onto the bigger boat.

A chilling 911 call documents the fear and panic of the people on board the yacht.

"We're in the water -- someplace, where are we, Connecticut? The kids hit the boat, they were tubing and she's unconscious," the panicked caller tells the 911 operator, according to the call obtained by NBC 4 New York.

As the 911 caller tries to assess the situation and the location of the boat, the female caller fumbles around for words then clarifies, "Two kids unconscious, there's two unconscious kids."

The girls were still unconscious when the Fairfield Police Marine Unit responded to the emergency call, authorities say.

The teenagers remained in the hospital Monday. One of the girls is walking, while the other is recovering from a broken pelvis. The full extent of their injuries remains unknown but they were conscious Monday.

One of the girls is from Long Island; the other is from North Carolina, authorities said.

The yacht owner was driving the boat that was pulling them on the tube, authorities said; the smaller boat goes with the larger yacht, which is registered in Miami. The yacht owner is from Long Island. Details on his identity weren't clear, but he appears to be related to the two victims, officials said.

Authorities say alcohol is not believed to have been involved in the accident and no charges have been filed.

Last year, a 16-year-old high school student died and another suffered a serious leg injury after they fell while tubing on Long Island Sound and were hit by the boat towing them.

Police said that the driver of the boat was properly licensed with a boating safety certificate and described the scene as a "tragic accident." Alcohol did not appear to be a factor, according to police.

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