A boat with seven people aboard capsized at Bear Lake in Utah due to high waves and violent winds, resulting in the deaths of four of the boaters, three of which were children.
The other three were pulled from the turbulent waters after two hours of searching and are currently recovering in the hospital, according to the Associated Press.
Utah doctor Lance Capener, 46, together with his wife, Kathy, 42, their two daughters and three of the girls' friends went boating in the 112-square-mile lake in Utah and Idaho.
The temperature dropped from the 80 degrees temperature at around 6:00 p.m. when the group went out. The National Weather Service determined wind gusts of up to 51 miles per hour in nearby Garden City, which caused a windstorm that, in turn, produced giant waves. It is even reported that the waves also ripped a floating plastic dock at a nearby Boy Scout camp, according to AP.
Despite wearing lifejackets, all seven were still at risk because the water was 53 degrees Fahrenheit, which put them at a serious risk of getting hypothermia, authorities said.
Garden City fire chief Mike Wahlberg said the boaters were on the waters for at least two hours, during which the waves reached 10 feet and frothed in the wind as rescuers searched for the group.
Lance died at the lake while his daughters Kelsey Capener, 13, and Kilee Capener, 7, and their friend Sierra Hadley, 13, were flown to a Salt Lake City hospital but died early Tuesday, said Utah State Parks Lt. Eric Stucki, AP reported.
Kathy Capener and family friends Tiffany Stoker and Tylinn Tilley, both 14 years old, were hospitalized in the northern Utah city of Logan. The teens were released from the hospital on Tuesday, Stucki said.
Aside from the group, there were also other boats on the water at the time, but no injuries and accidents were reported.
