A teenager from New Jersey was killed when she hit the boat’s propeller while trying to get from a raft to the boat.
Zeina Mahafzah, 18, was found around 4:30 p.m. Sunday in the waters off Sunset Park in Harvey Cedars Boro, Ocean County.
According to the New Jersey State Police, Mahafzah was on a raft being towed by a boat and was fatally struck by the ship’s propeller while attempting to board the vessel.
It is not known how many people were on board or who was piloting the boat, but NBC Philadelphia reported that paramedics were examining other people on board who witnessed the teenager’s death.
“As the investigation is still in its early stages, we ask that you keep the family and community in your thoughts and prayers,” Harvey Cedars police said.
Zeina Mahafzah (pictured), 18, died when she hit a ship’s propeller while trying to get from a raft onto the ship.
Mahafzah was struck around 4:30 p.m. Sunday in the waters off Sunset Park in Harvey Cedars Boro, Ocean County.
Mahafzah recently graduated from Wayne Hills High School and was planning to attend Rutgers University.
In a college decision video for the class of 2024 at Wayne Hills, she wore a red T-shirt and said she would go to college without a set major.
“We have been in contact with the family and respect their wishes, so we cannot comment at this time,” Wayne Township Superintendent Mark Toback told NJ.com.
Sunset Park is located on the bay side of Harvey Cedars, in the northern part of Long Beach Island.
She (pictured with her father) recently graduated from Wayne Hills High School and was scheduled to attend Rutgers University.
In a college decision video for the class of 2024 at Wayne Hills, she wore a red T-shirt and said she would go to college as an undecided major
In June, a boat operator killed a young woman when he turned too quickly while tubing and caused her to collide with another boat.
Kaileigh Seidel, 24, died June 22 from injuries sustained in the collision on the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon.
Police said she was “thrown” off the boat around 8 p.m., but her friend Millie Lovea, who was on board and watched helplessly, blamed the driver.
Lovea said the driver was “racing back and forth through the river” and took a turn too fast, causing the tube – and Seidel – to be thrown into the other boat.
