Maritime Accident News

Boating Accident Kills Three Men from Houston Area

Five men died following a boating accident that occurred about 60 miles southwest of New Orleans on the Falgout Canal between Theriot and Dulac.  Three of the five men were from the Houston area.

The accident took place the evening of Wednesday, May 20, 2009 when a 24-foot aluminum boat crashed into a barge moored at the edge of the canal.  One of the men died after he was able to climb the barge that the light boat had hit, according to the Terrebonne Parish coroner’s senior investigator.

Based on preliminary results from the autopsies, all five men died of head trauma.  Blood was taken for testing and all of the bodies were released to the families.

Investigators are still unsure how fast the boat was traveling when it hit the barge, said Marianne Burke, spokeswoman for the state Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.  According to Burke, a bank stabilization crew found the wreck Thursday morning and found the body on the barge they were using as a work platform.

According to a friend, the men were planning on attending a fishing tournament and they were returning from a crawfish boil in Dulac to a fishing camp on Bayou Dularge.  They had left Dulac at approximately 10:00 PM Wednesday.

back to top