5 Rescued After Boat Runs Aground On Lake Calumet

CHICAGO (STMW) -- Five people, including three children, were rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard, after the boat they were riding in ran aground in Lake Calumet on the Far South Side on Thursday afternoon.

The 36-foot boat washed onto land shortly before 4 p.m. near the mouth of the Calumet River on the lake, according to a statement from the U.S. Coast Guard. Officials said shallow water drove the boat aground.

The operator called Coast Guard Station Calumet Harbor and said the boat had grounded, and a private service would not be able to assist them until the following day, a statement from the Coast Guard said.

A rescue boat crew from the station arrived near the scene, then made three trips in a 7-foot skiff to rescue the five people on the boat, who were ten taken to Sunset Bay Marina, the Coast Guard said.

No injuries were reported among the five people, who included three children between 11 and 16 years old.

It was one of several similar rescues involving stranded boaters on the lake made this boating season, according to the Coast Guard.

The agency urges all boaters to follow navigational charts and be aware of proper navigational channels in the area.

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2013. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)