One dead and one airlifted after WaveRunner crashes in the Lower Keys
A 27-year-old Chicago man was killed Thursday in the Lower Keys after he crashed a Yamaha WaveRunner into a power pole, police said.
Aakash Putta, the driver, and passenger Sindhura Chilakapati , 25, also of Chicago, were on the 2019 Yamaha when it struck the pole. Both were ejected in the water off Key Haven.
Putta was killed while Chilakapati was airlifted to Jackson Memorial Hospital South in Miami.
She was listed in stable condition today, said the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
The couple had recently been married.
Alcohol was not involved, said FWC spokesman Bobby Dube, who added the agency is still investigating the cause of the crash.
The couple had rented the WaveRunner from Island Safari Tours in Key West.
This is the second fatal crash involving a personal watercraft within eight days in the Keys.
On Christmas Day, 26-year-old Prapanna Prayank, of Philadelphia, was found face down in the ocean off Marathon after the water sport bike-styled boat he was on crashed with the one his friend was riding, Fish and Wildlife officials said.
Prayank never regained consciousness.
This story was originally published January 2, 2020 at 4:59 PM.
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