SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — Two people have died and three others are missing after two motorboats collided Saturday on a river in coastal Georgia at the start of the long holiday weekend, authorities said.
At least four other passengers suffered minor injuries and one other person was reported airlifted by a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter for medical attention. The condition of that person wasn’t immediately disclosed.
Authorities told The Savannah Morning News that one of the boats was carrying six people and the other had three aboard when they collided around 10:30 am on the Wilmington River.
A Chatham Emergency Services spokesperson who released details of the collision said a search was underway Saturday afternoon for the missing. Chatham County Police Department officials closed a stretch of the river to investigate and search for the missing. The names of those involved were not immediately made public and specifics of the crash and search operation were not disclosed.
The incident is the second involving a boat and serious injuries on the Wilmington River this month. A local businessman was killed May 5 when a boat he was aboard struck an unlit channel marker near the Savannah Yacht Club and he was struck on the head by an unknown object, authorities said.
Saturday was the start of the three-day Memorial Day weekend, one of the busiest of the year for recreational boaters.
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