Indian national killed in personal watercraft collision with teen off Key West

Key West (Pixabay)

KEY WEST, Fla. – A man visiting South Florida died over the weekend after two personal watercrafts collided with each other off Key West, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

A 14-year-old boy from Boca Raton was operating the other personal watercraft, according to an FWC incident report.

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According to the incident report, the crash happened just after 12:30 p.m. Saturday at Fury Playground, just north of Wisteria Island.

Authorities identified the victim Monday as Venkataramana Pittala, of Kazipet, Telangana, India.

According to a GoFundMe page, the 27-year-old was a graduate student at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis, set to receive his degree in May.

The incident report lists the 14-year-old as uninjured and lists arrests as “pending.”

According to FWC, 14 is the minimum age to operate a personal watercraft in Florida.

The report doesn’t state whether authorities have determined fault. Both personal watercrafts were rented, it states.


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Chris Gothner joined the Local 10 News team in 2022 as a Digital Journalist.

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