LINCOLN, Neb. – A 9-year-old Colorado boy was hospitalized with serious injuries following a boating accident July 3 at Lake Minatare in Scotts Bluff County.

The boy was taken by ambulance to Regional West Medical Center in Scottsbluff. Scottsbluff radio station KNEB reported the boy was later transferred to a Denver hospital. The boat operator, who is from Briggsdale, Colorado, is the grandfather of the victim.

Conservation officers were notified of the accident just before 1:30 p.m. Witness statements indicated that the operator pulled into the boat dock to unload a group of people and load another group. The operator put the boat in reverse to back up from the dock when the boy fell off a paddle board and was run over by the boat.

The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission is investigating, with the assistance of the Nebraska State Patrol, Scotts Bluff County Sheriff’s Office, Scottsbluff Fire and Rescue and an area dive team.

Alcohol does not appear to have played any role in this incident.