Boat runs aground on the Columbia, hitting two people

By Emily Sinovic KATU News and KATU.com Staff Published: May 13, 2012 at 7:41 AM PDT
Boat runs aground on the Columbia, hitting two people »Play Video
A power boat rests on the beach at Wintler Park on the Columbia River. The boat struck two people on the beach, who were both treated on scene with non-life threatening injuries and transported by AMR to an area hospital. Photo courtesy Captain Mitch Nelson, Vancouver Fire Department.

VANCOUVER, Wash. - Two people were injured Saturday when a boat ran up onto a beach and hit them.

The accident happened at Wintler Park, a 12.5-acre beach area on the Vancouver, Washington side of the Columbia River.

The two people who were hit, a teenager and an adult male, were treated at the scene and then transported to the hospital. One may have ended up with a broken ankle and the other had what was described as a minor injury.

According to Vancouver police, the boat was traveling at a high rate of speed when it hit the beach. There were four people on board at the time.

"I saw the boat at full throttle - and I heard it actually - and jumped up from where I was sitting," said Chance Henriksbo. "And then I looked up and saw all these people scattering and watched the whole boat fly up onto shore."

"He was going like 30 miles per hour and he just runs over my friend's ankle," said Tanner Berry. "He was like 'ouch' and his ankle's all bloody and swollen and stuff."

No arrests have been made at this point.