3 children, 1 adult dead after boat capsizes on Bear Lake - East Idaho News
Idaho

3 children, 1 adult dead after boat capsizes on Bear Lake

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BEAR LAKE, UT (KSL) — Four people have now died after the boat they were riding in capsized on Bear Lake Monday.

Rich County Sheriff Dale Stacey confirmed Tuesday morning that seven people — two adults and five children — were on the boat. They were a mixture of family and friends.

Three children taken to Primary Children’s Hospital in critical condition Monday died Tuesday morning, the sheriff confirmed. Two other children and one woman remain hospitalized. Their conditions were not immediately known. A man died on the scene.

Crews received a call just after 6 p.m. reporting the boat missing. By the time crews located the victims, they had been in the water for about two hours.

The names of the deceased have not yet been released.

Crews pulled all of the victims out of the water just as it was starting to get dark Monday. They left the boat on the water for the night and crews planned to recover it from the lake Tuesday morning.

Officials couldn’t confirm what caused the boat to capsize but said winds were very strong on the lake Monday and likely contributed to the problem.

“If you’re on this lake and you see that storm building to the southwest, it might be good to get a little closer to the marina, a little closer to shore,” said Stacey.

He said this shows the importance of boating safety.

“Life jackets are a good thing to have,” he said “Also, it’s the law. They’re supposed to have a life jacket for every person on board.”

Officials don’t know yet whether all the people on board were wearing life jackets.

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