06-01-2006, 01:02 PM
Two teens drowned in a Whitley County lake Wednesday despite the efforts of a Corbin woman to save them.
The incident happened at about 3 p.m. Wednesday at Laurel Lake. Robert Allen Pool, Jr., 15 of Williamsburg and Andrew Brent Lascho, 18, of Corbin were on the High Top boat ramp when witnesses say the were suddenly in the water, one of them clutching a baby. A nearby boater, Luretha Claxton, rushed to the rescue. She said the teenager holding the baby was already below the surface, but was managing to hold the baby above water. She was able to help save the child, but was unable to save the two teens.
"Once the man said "my baby is drowning", my automatic instinct was the grab the float to save the baby," said Claxton. "And I did, I saved the baby."
Rescue crews used underwater cameras to find the bodies of the two teens, nearly 60 feet below the surface. Both were recovered shortly after 8 p.m. Wednesday night.
Autopsies will be performed in Frankfort, but the preliminary cause of death is drowning.
The incident happened at about 3 p.m. Wednesday at Laurel Lake. Robert Allen Pool, Jr., 15 of Williamsburg and Andrew Brent Lascho, 18, of Corbin were on the High Top boat ramp when witnesses say the were suddenly in the water, one of them clutching a baby. A nearby boater, Luretha Claxton, rushed to the rescue. She said the teenager holding the baby was already below the surface, but was managing to hold the baby above water. She was able to help save the child, but was unable to save the two teens.
"Once the man said "my baby is drowning", my automatic instinct was the grab the float to save the baby," said Claxton. "And I did, I saved the baby."
Rescue crews used underwater cameras to find the bodies of the two teens, nearly 60 feet below the surface. Both were recovered shortly after 8 p.m. Wednesday night.
Autopsies will be performed in Frankfort, but the preliminary cause of death is drowning.