DELAWARE COUNTY, Ohio — A man is dead and two people were injured in a boating accident that happened Monday at Alum Creek State Park.
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources said the accident happened shortly after 7 p.m. on August 3.
ODNR identified the man who was killed as 29-year-old Joseph Youssef from Charleston, West Virginia.
ODNR said the boat involved in the accident was found near the marina when rescue crews arrived at the scene.
A relative to a 10TV employee was fishing on the lake and witnessed the accident. Alec Kettler said a group of young men were tubing when the accident happened.
“My friend actually made the comment, ‘He’s about to hurt one of those kids on the tube,’ and maybe a minute or two later after he said that we watched him dump the two tubers into the water,” Kettler said.
Kettler said it’s not clear what caused the boat to make a sharp turn but that it went “right over the tubers.”
ONDR officers said more people have been out on the water this year because of COVID-19. However, those behind the wheel of a boat are required by the state to have a boating license.
“Right now we’re not doing any of the traditional OBEC [Ohio Boaters Educational Course] courses, it’s a little bit difficult to do that in our current climate,” said Lieutenant Dawn Roberts.
ODNR said the conditions of the two other people injured are not known.
The accident remains under investigation.