(KIWA Staff Photo)
Arnolds Park, Iowa — The victims have been identified in a fatal crash of two boats on West Lake Okoboji on Sunday.
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources says 64-year-old Zhong Jie Teng of Sioux Falls, S.D., died from injuries suffered in the boating collision.
They tell us Teng and five minors were boating near Lime Kiln Point, in the southeast part of West Lake Okoboji, when their 19-foot Triton fishing boat collided with a Cobalt cabin cruiser operated by 49-year-old Brian Rohlfsen of Spirit Lake, around 1 p.m.
Teng was transported to Lakes Regional Healthcare, in Spirit Lake, where he was pronounced dead. The condition of the five minors is not currently available.
The DNR says no injuries were reported from passengers in the second boat. Alcohol has been eliminated as a contributing factor in the incident.
They say the investigation is ongoing.
Original story posted August 3:
Arnolds Park, Iowa (KUOO) — One person is dead and multiple others are injured after a collision of two boats off of Pillsbury Point on West Lake Okoboji early Sunday afternoon.
The Iowa DNR says it claimed the life of one person and injured five others, three seriously. They were taken to hospitals in Spirit Lake and Spencer. Authorities say all were wearing personal flotation devices.
The person who died and the five others that were injured were all on the same vessel. Officials say no one on the other boat was injured. No names or other details have been released. The Iowa Department of Natural resources says crews responded to the scene a little before 1:00 p.m.
They add alcohol has been ruled out as a contributing factor.
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources Law Enforcement and State Parks Bureaus responded to the scene along with Arnolds Park-Okoboji Fire and Rescue, the Dickinson County Sheriff’s Office, police departments from Arnolds Park, Milford, and Okoboji and ambulances from Lakes Regional Healthcare and Terril.
The DNR says the incident is still under investigation.
(Pillsbury Point is just west of the Arnolds Park Amusement Park, in the Abbie Gardner Cabin area, in the southwest part of West Lake Okoboji)
