GARY, Indiana — A 9-year-old girl died and another girl survived after struggling in the waters of Lake Michigan in Gary, Indiana Tuesday afternoon.
Witnesses say they spotted two young girls in the waves around 2:25 p.m. at Marquette Beach in the city, the Indiana DNR tells NBC Chicago.
Crews initially pulled one girl from the water but could not find the second girl. But a helicopter soon found her and crews brought both of them to a local hospital for treatment. The 9-year-old was pronounced dead at the hospital.
The tragedy comes on the same day that a 5-year-old boy was pulled from Lake Michigan in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Crews arrived near Pennoyer Park to respond to a near-drowning of a young girl. She was brought to the hospital as a precaution. But the family realized they were missing another member of the family: the boy.
Divers and a drone eventually located the boy and he is now in the hospital in unknown condition, police say.
So far this year 22 people have drowned in Lake Michigan - the deadliest of the Great Lakes.
