Woman ID'd in Fla. parasailing accident

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MIAMI, Aug. 16 (UPI) -- The woman who died in Florida after her parasailing harness broke has been identified as Kathleen Miskell of Connecticut, officials said.

Miskell, 28, died Wednesday when her harness broke and she fell hundreds of feet into the Atlantic Ocean off a South Florida Beach, The Miami Herald reported.

Miskell and her husband, Stephen, were vacationing from Wethersfield, Conn., when the incident occurred at Pompano Beach north of Fort Lauderdale, the newspaper said.

The couple was in a side-by-side harness about 150 to 200 feet in the air when the woman's harness failed, Pompano Beach Fire-Rescue spokeswoman Sandra King said.

Stephen Miskell was reeled back into the boat without injury.

Kathleen Miskell was found floating face down in the water by the boat's captain. CPR was administered for several minutes as the boat drove back to shore.

She was pronounced dead at a local hospital, said a spokesman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission that is investigating the accident, the newspaper reported.

There are no state or national regulations for parasailing businesses.

A study by the U.S. Coast Guard found that, nationally, 59 parasailing accidents occurred between 1992 and 2001, resulting in 64 injuries and three deaths.