TRAGEDY ON THE RIVER

It is with great sadness I report this story. But it involves my beloved river and must be told.


Runaway car plows through crowded riverbank, injuring 10 spectators at Regatta




The Madison Regatta was cut short Sunday when a car plowed through a crowded riverfront embankment shortly before the start of the final heat of the Indiana Governor’s Cup.
Among first responders to the scene was Matt Brawner, 21, a Kent Volunteer Fire Department volunteer who witnessed the accident.“I saw a black vehicle hit the crowd going at least 55 to 60 miles per hour,” he said. “I saw a leg go flying off into the river.” A man who lost his leg was among spectators who received medical attention immediately after the accident.“There was also a little girl, maybe 9 or 10, I saw lying near the shore,” he said. “The car hit her head-on.”Brawner said the car flew through the air and came down against a concrete culvert, then flipped and fishtailed as it made its way through a crowd of people into the water.“You couldn’t tell the front of the car from the back by the time it went into the water,” he said.“I worked on five people immediately after the accident, but there were many more who were injured,” Brawner said. “We also are assisting a lot of people at the scene who are in shock. Some are fainting and in need of water and air. Others just want to talk about what they just saw. We are trying to get them to talk about something else to settle them down.”John Kinman of Vevay was standing with family members under a tent about 25 feet from the accident scene when he saw a car speeding at least 50 mph toward the river.“I saw the car hit a woman up along Jefferson Street,” he said. “Then, the car hit a culvert, went flying through the air before driving through the crowd and taking out people,” he said. “I saw a man run over half way down and a young girl lying down by the water who was being administered CPR immediately after the accident,” Kinman said.
Witnesses described the scene as scary and surreal, or even like a scene from a Hollywood movie.
Seconds before the accident, Wilson remembered hearing a scream from the crowd followed by a loud “crunching sound.” The crunching sound was a golf cart that was smashed onto the hood of Bowen’s car as it continued its disastrous decent down the crowded embankment.“When I saw it (car) coming, I saw bodies flying everywhere,” Duncan said. “It headed where kids were playing on the bank.”Wilson added, “It looked like a Hollywood stage, people were flying everywhere.”After the accident, rescue divers who already were on the riverfront for the Regatta quickly swarmed around the car. Wilson and Duncan were impressed with how quickly rescue units responded. Wilson said a diver swam to the driver’s-side window and punched the glass with his bare hands to rescue the driver.On the bank, rescue workers immediately began first aid on the victims. They continued first aid until EMS arrived.