Waterloo girl, 12, killed in California boating accident

Thrown overboard when boat made sudden stop at San Diego area reservoir

Officials have identified a 12-year-old Canadian girl as the victim of a boat accident in California. The San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office says Lia Rose Barakett was riding in a boat with family and friends last Saturday when tragedy struck.

A report from the examiner’s office says the boat was conducting “recreational manoeuvres” while pulling a tube carrying a passenger.

When that person fell off the tube, the operator of the boat stopped suddenly and Barakett was thrown off, the report says. The boat then went over her; her life-jacket fell off and she was submerged in the water.

Several media outlets, including CTV News and the Waterloo Chronicle, report that Barakett was about to enter Grade 8 at St. Matthew Catholic Elementary School in Waterloo, Ont. The medical examiner’s report said Barakett lived with her mother and was visiting California with family.

The San Diego Fire Depart- ment says the incident occurred Aug.11 at the San Vicente Reservoir.

“Several people immediately went in after her but they were not able to locate her,” said Monica Munoz, a spokesperson for the department. Another person on the boat called 911 and police responded, she said.

“Teams searched until dark and then resumed the search the next day and continued searching until she was located on Wednesday morning.”

The San Vicente Reservoir is a difficult dive location, reaching about 85 metres in some spots.

“The terrain on the bottom is particularly dangerous: trees, fishing line and other debris and very large and sharp boulders,” she said.

“This made the search efforts very difficult and dangerous.”