Boy Dies in Boat Crash; Woman Badly Injured

Six people were pulled from the ocean, including a 7-year-old boy who died hours later, and his grandmother, who was in full cardiac arrest, after their cabin cruiser apparently struck a submerged pipeline Monday night about a half mile from El Segundo.

A distress call was sent by the 26-foot pleasure boat’s skipper at about 8:30 p.m., said sheriff’s spokeswoman Roberta Granek. The child and the woman were trapped under water in the bow of the half-sunk ship when sheriff’s divers arrived.

The other four had been rescued from the water by two men on another boat named Mystic.

The boy was rushed to UCLA Medical Center, where he died. His grandmother was in critical condition at Daniel Freeman Marina Hospital. Authorities said she was not breathing when she arrived. The other four were not injured.

Retired firefighter Ron May said he and his friend aboard the Mystic hollered to the people on the damaged boat, “Can you swim?” We asked if they had life preservers or not. We said get in the water and get out of your boat. Right then the boat began going down.”

May said one man hollered that he wanted to stay on the boat because two people “were still in there.”

May’s friend, a fisherman, said the boat “sank in just a few seconds. The cabin was enclosed in water as it went down.” Authorities said the two were trapped in the cabin for about 10 minutes.

“Wish we could have helped the other two,” May said.

Authorities towed the half-submerged boat to land.

While authorities believed the boat hit the pipe, it also might have struck an anchored buoy.

Several boats have hit that pipeline, which is surrounded by warning buoys and signs and noted on nautical charts, authorities said.

“The boat struck the El Segundo pipeline and started sinking with six people on board,” Granek said. “Two of them were trapped underwater. Our people began performing CPR while transporting them to land.”