Woman thrown from jet ski dies after hitting boat propeller, Colorado officials say

A woman died after she was launched from a jet ski and into a nearby boat propeller at a Colorado lake, officials said.

The woman was riding a jet ski Saturday, July 9, at Lake Pueblo State Park, Colorado Parks and Wildlife said. She was ejected from the jet ski and into the water.

When she was thrown off the jet ski, she smacked into a propeller on a nearby boat. The contact caused traumatic injuries, Parks and Wildlife said.

“Colorado Parks and Wildlife Rangers responded by patrol boat to the scene, performed CPR and took other measures to try to save the woman,” officials said in a July 12 news release. “But she was later declared dead at the scene.”

Officials started investigating the incident. They impounded a boat and two jet skis and interviewed multiple people.

“This appears to be a terrible accident,” Joe Stadterman, park manager at Lake Pueblo, said in the news release. “Alcohol does not appear to be a factor in the incident. But it remains under investigation at this time.”

The woman’s body was turned over to the county coroner to determine a cause of death. The woman has not yet been identified.

The incident was the sixth water-related death at the lake this year, Parks and Wildlife said. Five people have drowned at Lake Pueblo so far in 2022.

On July 7, a 22-year-old died at Lake Pueblo in a “swimming accident,” McClatchy News reported. Her body was found about 17 feet underwater.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials urge visitors to wear a life jacket when they’re in the water. There are no lifeguards at Lake Pueblo or other Colorado State Park beaches, according to McClatchy News.

This story was originally published July 13, 2022 at 12:37 PM with the headline "Woman thrown from jet ski dies after hitting boat propeller, Colorado officials say."