Sightseeing boat hits dock near Michigan Avenue

(Above) The bow of the Wendella boat Lila is damaged from an accident on Monday. (Click on images to view larger versions.)

6-Aug-12 – Wendella’s brand new boat, the Lila, slammed into a concrete dock on Monday. Nine people were taken to three nearby hospitals. None of the injuries is life threatening.

According to Chicago Fire Department spokesperson Meg Ahlheim, an injured passenger called CFD at 5:31 p.m. Upon arriving at the scene – the west side of the DuSable Bridge on the north bank of the Chicago River – fire department personnel realized there were more injured passengers and called for additional ambulances.

Two people were taken to hospitals with injuries described as serious but not critical. Seven were transported with less than serious injuries.

144 passengers and six crewmembers were on the Lila. It is believed the boat lost power as it approached the dock and struck it at high speed. Ahlheim says when the boat hit the dock, “it jarred a lot of the passengers on board.”

Built in Rhode Island, the Lila arrived in Chicago last Wednesday. It is named for Lila H. Borgstrom, who died in 2011. She was the matriarch of the family that owns Wendella Boats.