MICHIGAN CITY — An 11-year-old girl is dead after drowning in Lake Michigan at a northern Indiana beach this weekend, and another girl, 14, is in critical condition, according to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.
In the first incident at Washington Park Beach over the weekend, a young girl was swimming with two of her family members on Saturday night when a wave struck all three of them. The group was pulled deeper into the water when local bystanders noticed they needed help and rescued two of the swimmers. The third, according to authorities, never resurfaced.
The Michigan City Fire Department was called to the beach at 9:11 p.m. and by 9:52 p.m. the young girl's body was recovered by divers. She was transported to Franciscan Hospital in Michigan City where she was pronounced dead. She was 11.
The DNR states her drowning is still under investigation as the exact cause of her death is pending autopsy results.
In the second incident at Washington Park Beach, a 14-year-old girl from Dayton, Ohio was among several other children who were "actively struggling in the water" on Sunday afternoon, according to Indiana Conservation Officers.
The MCFD was called to the beach at 1 p.m. to rescue the children from Lake Michigan. After rounding up the undisclosed number of kids, it was confirmed that the 14-year-old was still missing.
Approximately 10 minutes later, the driver of a jet-ski spotted the missing girl and alerted an MCPB diver. She was found unresponsive after being pulled from the water, according to authorities.
She was first transported to Franciscan Hospital in Michigan City before she was then flown by helicopter to South Bend Memorial Hospital.
At the time of this initial report, the 14-year-old remains in critical condition as conservation officers investigate the cause of the drowning.
According to Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project, a non-profit that tracks drownings and advocates for water safety, there were two other drownings in Lake Michigan over the weekend, one in Wisconsin and another in Chicago.
So far this year, 13 drownings have been reported on Lake Michigan, according to GLSRP.
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