Boy dies after falling from boat, being hit by propeller

OCEAN CITY, Md. – Authorities in Maryland are identifying a 9-year-old New Jersey boy killed when he was hit by a boat’s propeller.

Natural Resources Police spokeswoman Candy Thomson, speaking by telephone Thursday, identified the boy killed as Kaden Frederick of Howell, New Jersey.

Thomson says 17 people were on the rented pontoon boat in Sinepuxent Bay near Ocean City on Wednesday afternoon. She says Frederick was one of four people sitting with their legs dangling from the front of the boat as it moved, which is illegal in Maryland.

Thomson says Frederick fell, the operator couldn’t stop and the propeller hit the boy. She says emergency crews couldn’t resuscitate him.

Thomson says Frederick was the 11th person killed while boating this year in Maryland, one of three this week.

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This story has been corrected to show that Frederick was the 11th person killed while boating this year, not the 12th.