Woman dies in boating accident near Elfin Cove, 10-year-old in hospital

One woman is dead and a 10-year-old child remains hospitalized after a Wednesday night accident ejected several passengers from a boat into water near Elfin Cove, officials say.

Elfin Cove resident Elizabeth Eskelin, 44, received CPR from good Samaritans who saw the 16-foot-skiff she was traveling on with four others — a second adult and three children — hit a wood piling around 10 p.m. just 60 miles west of Juneau, according to an Alaska State Trooper dispatch report. Despite their efforts, Eskelin died before Sitka’s U.S. Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew arrived around 11 p.m.

Petty Officer 3rd Class Meredith Manning, a spokeswoman for the Coast Guard in Alaska, said the good Samaritans, who were staying at cabins in the nearby area, continued caring for the second adult and three children — bringing them to shore — keeping them warm and trying to tend leg injuries — until they were transported to Bartlett Regional Hospital.

BRH Chief Clinical Officer Billy Gardner said medical personnel tended to injuries on the 6-, 10- and 12-year-old children from the boating accident. The 10-year-old was medevaced to the Alaska Native Medical Center in Anchorage while in stable condition. ANMC staff said they could not comment on the child’s condition upon arrival.

Alaska State Trooper spokeswoman Megan Peters said metal from the boat was found on the wooden piling, confirming, there was an allision — a crash with an unmoving object — but it is unclear what caused the accident.

Eskelin’s cause of death is unknown and Manning said she did not know if her body was on its way to the Alaska State Medical Examiner. It was also not confirmed if all five people on the boat were related.

Manning said the weather on scene in Althorp Cove, one mile south of Elfin Cove, was reported as calm and clear, with 1-foot waves and 11-mph winds.

• Contact reporter Paula Ann Solis at 523-2272 or paula.solis@juneauempire.com.