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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Boating Fatalities Drop

Compiled From Staff And Wire Rep

The number of people killed in boating accidents in Oregon dropped by more than half last year.

Ten people died in boating accidents in the state in 1994, down from 24 the previous year, according to the Oregon State Marine Board.

“Given the increase in people and craft on the water, the decrease in fatalities is encouraging,” Marine Board Director Paul Donheffer said.

Nine of the Oregon victims were male, including two children. None of them wore life jackets.

Five of the deaths involved motorboats, two each involved canoes or rafts and one involved a personal watercraft.

The Coast Guard says the typical accident involves a man not wearing a life jacket and falling out of a small outboard motor boat, canoe, kayak or raft.

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Compiled from staff and wire reports