COLUMBUS – Police say an 11-year-old boy has become the second person to die after an SUV plunged into a pond on the Southeast Side.
Leta Galagalo, of Columbus, was one of four passengers riding in the 2008 Toyota Highlander driven by Chaltu Guyo when she lost control of the vehicle and drove into a lake at an apartment complex, Det. Mark Rice, of the Accident Investigation Unit, said.
Galagalo and Dereje Kume, 55, were rescued from the vehicle by Columbus Division of Fire personnel and taken to the hospital by units from the Madison Township Fire Department but Rice says Kume died Sunday morning at Mt. Carmel East Hospital and Galagalo was pronounced dead at Nationwide Children’s Hospital at 3:30 p.m. Monday.
Two other boys, ages seven and nine, were listed in stable condition at Children’s Hospital, Rice said.
Guyo, 39, of Columbus, was trying to park the SUV on Shore Boulevard West, just north of Kingsland Avenue, at approximately 12:15 p.m. when she lost control of the vehicle and drove into the lake that runs adjacent to Shore Boulevard West, Rice said.
These were the 26th and 27th traffic fatalities in Columbus in 2019.