Accident on Lake Movil severs man's leg

I first started at the Bemidji (Minn.) Pioneer as an intern in the summer of 1996. That would begin six years as a news reporter, sports reporter and copy editor for a small, six-day-per-week daily newspaper in northern Minnesota. I wrote a large range of stories from multiple beats, to features to sports, my favorite being the coverage of the Red Lake Reservation High School basketball team named the Warriors. Here is a collection of my stories from my time at the Pioneer.

June 10, 1997

By Devlyn Brooks

Staff Writer

A personal watercraft accident on Lake Movil Saturday cost a Japanese man part of his left leg, which is still missing, according to a Law Enforcement Center dispatcher.

Sheriff's deputies were called to the lake about 10 p.m. and found Yatagai Yasnaki, 31, of Hamamatsu City, Japan, lying on a jet ski on shore with a tourniquet above the knee where his leg had been severed. With him was another man who was not injured, according to the dispatcher.

Yatagai was transferred by ambulance to North Country Regional Hospital and was in stable condition Monday, according to a hospital spokeswoman.

He and Tsuneaki Endo, 31, of Shizuoka, Japan, are engineers with Suzuki and were testing the engine of the Tiger Shark jet ski on the lake.

According to the dispatcher, the men could speak little English, but apparently the second driver, Tsuneaki, did not see the other jet ski until it turned in front of him. He drove into the side of the watercraft, severing Yatagai's left leg below the knee. Even though it was about 10 p.m., there was still daylight, the dispatcher said.

After the collision, Tsuneaki apparently swam to the other man, loaded him onto the undamaged jet ski and drove him to shore. Both men were wearing life preservers.

No charge are pending in the accident.