Wiregrass girls still hospitalized after holiday river accident

Two Wiregrass girls remain hospitalized five days after a July 4 holiday boating accident on the Chattahoochee River.

Cpl. Terri Jones of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources said two of the girls, ages 9 and 11, were still receiving treatment at Childrens Hospital in Birmingham Thursday. A third girl, age 11, was taken to Southeast Alabama Medical Center. Jones said one of the girls was from Cottonwood, another from Pansey and the third from Georgia.

Jones said the girls were thrown from a tube they were riding on, striking several boulder-sized rocks. The boat’s driver apparently got too close to the bank in a turn and it swung the tube out behind the boat, throwing the girls off.

She said three couples and their daughters entered the river from the shoreline near Gordon. The accident reportedly happened around 5 p.m. She said all three girls were initially taken to SAMC. Two of them were transferred to the hospital in Birmingham on Sunday. Jones said the condition of all three girls was improving after they had surgery.

Jones declined to identify the driver of the boat. She said officers are still investigating whether alcohol may have been a factor, and whether any charges would be filed.