Girl, 7, killed and seven hurt in Maryland speed boat race crash

[June 29, 2015]  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A young girl was killed and seven people were injured at a Maryland speed boat race on Sunday when a driver lost control and slammed into spectators watching from boats tethered together on Chesapeake Bay, authorities said.

The accident happened around 5 p.m. local time off Kent Island at the 25th annual Thunder on the Narrows race, a contest billed by organizers as "NASCAR on the water."

Three victims were airlifted to University of Maryland Trauma Center in Baltimore, Maryland Natural Resources police spokeswoman Candy Thomson said.

Four others sustained injuries, Thomson said. The extent of their injuries was not immediately known.

A 7-year-old girl was killed in the accident, Thomson said.

The U.S. Coast Guard is investigating the accident.

Maryland has seen several boating incidents over the weekend.

In one unrelated incident, a boat capsized nearby off Kent Island at the same time as the race accident, Thomson said. One man is still missing.

On Saturday, one man died and eight teenagers were injured when the pontoon boat they were aboard was swept over a Maryland lake dam.

(Reporting by John Clarke in Washington; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Phil Berlowitz)

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