Divers and crews using underwater sonar devices searched Friday for three people who went missing on two Alabama lakes after a pair of holiday boating accidents, and authorities later confirmed one person was dead in addition to several injured.
Both happened after dark on July 4 on large reservoirs that are popular destinations for people seeking relief from the summer heat.
Capt. Gary Buchanan, a spokesman for the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency’s Marine Patrol, said searchers including dive teams trying to locate two people who were missing after two boats collided on Lake Jordan, north of Montgomery.
“There’s probably 30-40 people on the water actively involved at this time,” Buchanan said in an email Friday.
Five other people were hurt in that crash, he said, including two who were hospitalized with serious injuries. It’s unclear exactly what happened, but officials said two boats collided.
Crews also searched Friday for a person missing after a boating accident on Smith Lake north of Birmingham, Buchanan said.
The agency said in an emailed statement Friday night that it had confirmed a 12-year-old girl had died and two other children were injured: another 12-year-old girl and a 14-year-old boy. All were from Pontotoc County in Mississippi, it said. The statement didn’t immediately give details on just what happened or explain why authorities had earlier reported a higher number of injuries.
Authorities said the accident involved a 19-foot deck boat style vessel.
Photos from the scene showed a rescue boat beside a fiberglass boat overturned in the water.
While skies were clear, high temperatures were forecast in the 90s this week and Buchanan said the intense heat made conditions worse for searchers, who were concentrated on recovering bodies on the nearly 7,000-acre (2,840-hectare) Lake Jordan rather than finding survivors.
“It works against us because of the stress that puts on the divers and their gear and the search teams that are out there in the sun and the heat,” Buchanan said.
Smith Lake covers about 21,000 acres (8,500 hectares).
