11-year-old girl dies after swimming accident in Great Falls

GREAT FALLS, S.C. — An 11-year-old girl who was pulled from a Great Falls creek after being submerged for nearly 10 minutes Saturday has died at the hospital, police said.

Emilee Jo Britt was flown to Levine Children’s Hospital after she was pulled from the creek but was taken off life-support Sunday afternoon.

Officials told Channel 9 the accident happened around 3:45 p.m. Saturday at a well-known area off the Catawba River called the Sand Bar, south of Great Falls.

The girl's mother was teaching her daughter how to swim when they became separated by the current, officials told Channel 9.

A resident near the creek told Channel 9 that the creek is a safe place and is shallow.

“And calm,” he said. “It gets moving but, not too bad.”

Volunteer firefighters pulled the girl from the water after she had been under about 10 minutes, Great Falls police said.

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