The Virginian-Pilot 
                            THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT  
              Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Sunday, April 14, 1996                 TAG: 9604140056
SECTION: LOCAL                    PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL  
SOURCE: STAFF REPORT
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE                         LENGTH: Short :   44 lines

CORRECTION/CLARIFICATION: ***************************************************************** A Chesapeake boating accident early Saturday occurred when the boat smashed into a tugboat. Stories in the Sunday and Monday MetroNews sections erroneously reported that the boat hit a barge. Correction published Tuesday, April 16, 1996 on page A2 of THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT. ***************************************************************** BEACH WOMAN DIES, 2 MEN HURT IN CHESAPEAKE BOATING ACCIDENT

A boating accident early Saturday killed a Virginia Beach woman and seriously injured her husband and another man, police said.

The three were in a boat that crashed into a barge shortly after midnight at a dredge site about a mile west of the Locks Park Boat Ramp off North Battlefield Boulevard.

Killed was Bertha Virginia Tant, 37, of the 800 block of Gammon Road in Virginia Beach, police said.

Her husband, Barry W. Tant Sr., 36, was flown by helicopter to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital.

The third person, Patrick Cassidy, 41, of the 1900 block of Buttonwood St. in Chesapeake, was taken by ambulance to Sentara Norfolk General.

A hospital spokeswoman said both men were in critical condition as of late Saturday.

Police divers briefly searched for a possible fourth victim but later learned that only the three people were involved.

The state Department of Game and Inland Fisheries is investigating; no further details were available Saturday.

KEYWORDS: BOATING ACCIDENT FATALITY

by CNB