Listen Live
97.9 The Box Featured Video
CLOSE

An 11-year-old boy in an inner tube died and another was injured after a wake boarder slammed into them on the San Jacinto River during the holiday weekend.

The mishap occurred in the west fork of the river about 2 p.m. Sunday, Houston police said. No charges have been filed so far.

The victim, whose name was not released, was rushed to a Kingwood hospital and then flown by LifeFlight medical helicopter to Memorial Hermann Hospital, where he later died.

The other boy, who police said was either 11 years old or 12 years old and whose name has not been released, had facial injuries. He was treated at Texas Children’s Hospital and was later released.

The wake boarder, a man whose name has been released, injured his knee. The severity of the injury was not known.

Investigators with the Houston Police Department Marine Unit said three boys were in an inner tube being towed by a boat upstream when they passed another boat that was towing the wake boarder traveling downstream.

The wake boarder was outside the wake of the boat towing him and as the two vessels passed each other, he hit the other boat, glanced off of it and then crashed into the boys in the inner tube, investigators said.

The third boy, who was also at least 11 years old, was not hurt. The boys appeared to be unrelated but were friends.

Investigators said they are trying to determine the cause of the crash. The river was very crowded at the time of the collision, but they don’t know if that may have contributed to the mishap.

Alcohol does not appear to be involved, they said.

The case is still being investigated