DALLAS _ Two teenagers on a Boy Scout outing in East Texas died Saturday afternoon after their sailboat struck an overhead power line, officials said.
The boat was on fire with the sails about 300 yards north of the power lines when Texas Game Wardens arrived about 2 p.m. Saturday to the Alley Creek area of Lake O' the Pines, about 35 miles north of Longview, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department said.
Three members of Boy Scout Troop 620 from Hallsville, Texas, were on board the Hobie Cat Catamaran. They may have been electrocuted when the vessel hit the transmission line, the department said.
Wardens found an 18-year-old man on the boat and a 16-year-old in the water a short distance away. Both had severe bodily injuries and were dead.
An 11-year-old boy was found in a boat nearby where good Samaritans were providing CPR. He was transported to LSU Medical Center in Shreveport, La., the department said.
His condition was not provided.
All three were wearing flotation devices. Their names have not been released.
Dewayne Stephens, executive and CEO of the East Texas Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America, offered his thoughts, prayers and support to the victims' families.
"This is an extremely difficult time for our Scouting family," Stephens said in a written statement. "I would like to thank the emergency teams who responded and assisted our Scouts and volunteers throughout this incident."
The parks department's boating accident reconstruction and mapping team is investigating the incident.
