17-year-old driving boat hits, kills 76-year-old rower in New Hampshire lake, cops say

A 76-year-old rower is dead after he was struck by a boat on a lake in New Hampshire, officials said.

On July 28, Thomas Mead of Tilton was rowing a scull boat on Lake Winnisquam when he was hit by a 17-year-old boy driving a pontoon boat, according to a Facebook post by state police.

The teen was able to get Mead on his boat and began CPR, officials said.

Police didn’t identify the teen.

Mead was taken to a hospital, where he eventually died, officers said.

“The boat that was struck was very low to the water. When they sit in those boats, they’re kind of reclined as well,” Michael Sitar, chief of Tilton-Northfield Fire and EMS, told The Boston Globe. “It was a bit foggy and the way the sun was coming up, I believe the operator [of the pontoon boat] just did not see him and drove right over him.”

The crash remains under investigation, officials said.

McClatchy News reached out to state police for more information July 29 and was awaiting a response.

Police ask anyone with information to call 603-227-2115.

Lake Winnisquam is about a 90-mile drive north from Concord.

This story was originally published July 29, 2024 at 6:12 PM with the headline "17-year-old driving boat hits, kills 76-year-old rower in New Hampshire lake, cops say."