WI: THREE DEAD AFTER BOAT CRASH ON LAKE PEPIN
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MINNESOTA (WCCO) — Three people are dead after a boat overturned on Lake Pepin on Saturday night, according to law enforcement officials in Minnesota and Wisconsin.
Two of the decedents were members of the Wabasha Fire Department, the chief confirmed.
The Pepin County Sheriff’s Office in Wisconsin says it received a 911 call at approximately 10:45 p.m. on Saturday reporting people screaming for help from the waters of Lake Pepin.
Upon arrival, first responders found an overturned pontoon boat just offshore from the YMCA Camp on Deer Island in Wisconsin. Three people were clinging to the boat and told responders that three additional occupants had been on the boat but could not be located.
Pepin County Sheriff Joe Wener says the pontoon overturned when it collided with a barge.
The incident initiated a large-scale search and rescue operation that included rescue boats, drones, helicopters and “other specialized search resources,” according to a joint release Sunday morning from the Wabasha and Pepin county sheriff’s offices.
First responders recovered the three missing individuals from the lake at some point during the search operation, law enforcement officials said in an update on Sunday night. They were declared dead by the Pepin County coroner and have been taken to the Ramsey County Medical Examiner’s Office in St. Paul, Minnesota, for autopsies.
The identities of the individuals who died are being withheld until their families are notified, according to officials.
While the boat was found near the YMCA Camp, law enforcement says no campers or camp staff were involved in the incident.
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is investigating the circumstances surrounding the boating crash.
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