Six Dead, Two Missing After Boat Capsizes in Sudden Lake Tahoe Storm
A sudden and powerful wind storm turned tragic on Lake Tahoe Saturday afternoon when a boat capsized, leaving six people dead and two still missing.
Around 3 p.m., emergency responders were alerted to reports of “10 people in the water” after a 27-foot Chris-Craft boat overturned near D.L. Bliss State Park in California. According to a statement from the U.S. Coast Guard, the boat was hit by a large swell, caused by intense winds that whipped up dangerous conditions on the lake.
The Coast Guard confirmed that six people lost their lives, two survivors were hospitalized, and search efforts are still ongoing for the remaining two individuals. Witnesses say that a lifeguard and a park ranger witnessed the incident and were able to pull two people from the water.
When the Coast Guard arrived at the scene, they spotted another person in the water. A lifeguard swam out to help and brought the individual aboard the Coast Guard vessel, but tragically, the person was pronounced dead after being brought to shore at Lester Beach.
Lake conditions were described as extremely rough, with 6- to 8-foot waves caused by the storm. Witnesses told South Tahoe Now that boats were violently rocking, and one local boat captain, Joby Cefalu, compared the lake’s waves to being “worse than 30-foot waves on the sea.”
Cefalu set up a makeshift triage center at the Tahoe Keys Marina to assist victims, some of whom were suffering from hypothermia due to prolonged exposure to the cold water.
Search efforts resumed Sunday with helicopters and airplanes scanning the area, coordinated by the U.S. Coast Guard and the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office.
As of now, the names of those who died or remain missing have not been released.