20-Year-Old Woman Dies After Getting Trapped Under Capsized Boat on Lake Michigan

Chicago Police tell PEOPLE that the boat may have "struck a breakwall" as it was making its way back to shore

A 20-year-old woman has died and six others were injured after their boat capsized on Lake Michigan in Chicago last week.

Rescue teams responded to the lakefront scene around 3:30 a.m. local time Friday morning, the Chicago Police Department (CPD) confirmed to PEOPLE. Four women and two men between the ages of 20 and 40 were rescued from the water. They were transported to local hospitals in "fair condition."

A seventh person — who the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office later identified as Briana Joy Burden — was found dead, trapped under the boat, according to the Chicago Tribune.

The Cook County Medical Examiner did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.

Rescuers spent several hours looking for Burden before being forced to stop at one point because of the weather conditions and darkness. According to the paper, Deputy District Fire Chief Jason Lach said at a Friday news briefing that police and fire personnel faced waves as high as a foot while searching the water.

“It made rescue and recoveries a lot more difficult because of the conditions,” Lach said.

Burden's body was eventually recovered at around 10 a.m. on Friday. An autopsy performed Saturday determined that Burden died from multiple injuries and drowning related to the boat hitting a fixed object. Her death was ruled an accident, according to the medical examiner’s office, the Chicago Tribune reported.

CPD told PEOPLE the boat "possibly struck a breakwall" while returning to shore around 2:40 a.m.

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The area where the boat capsized, known as the "Playpen," is a heavily populated boating spot in Chicago, according to CBS affiliate WBBM-TV. Last August, a mother of two named Lana Batochir lost both of her legs when she was sucked under a reversing boat's propeller in the Playpen.

Police were first alerted to an emergency when "two boats collided with people trapped underneath," Officer Ark Pachnik of the CPD's Marine Unit said in a press conference at the time.

Related: 8 Injured After Boat Crashes Into Missouri House in Suspected Drunk Boating Accident

After first responders arrived, they saw one victim — Batochir — "hanging halfway into the boat." It was evident she needed medical help, so she was taken to paramedics, who were waiting nearby. Pachnik said "both feet were severed" as he confirmed her injuries.

Batochir later recounted her terrifying ordeal in a message on her GoFundMe page.

"A reckless boat driver reversed into our inflatable raft at full throttle destroying everything in its way," she alleged. "Everything happened so fast. We were all under his boat within seconds. The boat's propeller struck me, leaving me with unimaginable pain. I thought I was dying."

Related: Alabama Officials Now Say They Incorrectly Linked Boating Deaths to TikTok Trend

She said she immediately began to drown.

"At a distance I saw my husband's eyes searching for me in a panic," she added. "I would never forget his face of pain. We connected eyes, but I couldn't stay up, I truly began to drown. I felt myself drifting down like an object, I knew I would die."

She credited her husband for saving her life, stating that he pulled her out of the water. That's when she realized her feet were gone.

Once at the hospital, she was then told both of her legs would have to be amputated below the knee. "Even though it feels like the worst thing that happened to me, I still feel very lucky to be alive," Batochir wrote. "I will get through this and come out stronger with my new lifestyle."

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