[StBernard] Girl, 11, missing after boats collide near Shell Beach

[Westley Annis]

Girl, 11, missing after boats collide near Shell Beach

wwltv.com

Posted on July 16, 2011 at 8:30 PM

Updated yesterday at 11:43 PM

Michael Luke / Eyewitness News

ST. BERNARD, La. -- Rescue crews are combing the waters off Shell Beach for
a missing 11-year-old girl after two boats collided, according to Coast
Guard officials.

At 5:40 p.m., the St. Bernard Sheriff's Office contacted the Coast Guard
about a missing 11-year-old girl in the water near Shell Beach just south of
Chalmette, according to Coast Guard officials.

The Coast Guard dispatched a helicopter to the scene, and a rescue boat was
sent to help with the search, even local fishermen pitched in to help find
the girl.

St. Bernard Chief Deputy Sheriff Jimmie Pohlmann said that two fishing
vessels collided nearly head-on in the Shell Beach Canal, near Lake Borgne.
One boat that was carrying four young girls ran aground.

Pohlmann said that all of the girls were ejected from the boat into water
about 15 feet deep. A third boat rescued three of the girls, and crews are
looking for one of the girls thrown from the boat.  The driver of the boat
wasn't ejected from the boat, but he was hospitalized in serious condition.

Despite searching the waters for several hours, rescue workers were not
ready to give up hope for a successful search.

"We're not going to give up hope at this point," said Pohlmann.

But nearly five hours after the search began and as daylight faded hopes
that the little girl would be found alive started to flicker.

"Every hours that passes," said Pohlmann, "it becomes more and more
difficult to hope that you would have a rescue, versus a recovery."

The driver of the boat is believed to be related to the girls, said
Pohlmann.

Crews plan to stay out on the water as long as possible to find the young
girl.

Two men in the other boat in the collision were not injured, according to
St. Bernard officials.

Weather conditions are not believe to be a factor in the collision and the
cause of the crash is under investigation, Pohlmann said.

Agents from the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries are on the scene as well
and assisting with the search for the missing girl.