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Six people are dead and two others are missing after a luxury powerboat capsized on Lake Tahoe during a powerful storm that saw eight-foot-tall waves, authorities said.
A gold 27-foot-long Chris-Craft vessel carrying 10 people capsized Saturday afternoon due to a large six-to-eight-foot swell of waves during 35 mph winds near D.L. Bliss State Park, the U.S. Coast Guard said.
Emergency services responded to the incident around 3 p.m. and found six deceased adults in the water, the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office said.
Two survivors were pulled out of the water and taken to a local hospital, authorities said.
Two other victims remain unaccounted for as of Sunday morning. The El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue team, along with their Dive Team, returned to the scene Sunday to continue their search for the victims.
Authorities responded to the scene after a seasonal lifeguard and ranger saw people in the water and pulled two to the rocks to perform CPR, South Tahoe Now reported.
As the Coast Guard arrived, they saw another person in the water whom the lifeguard swam out to help, but once they were rescued onto the beach, they were pronounced deceased, authorities said.
Witnesses told the local outlet that the unusually high winds struck the lake, creating dangerous conditions.
“It was a very, very tragic day on Lake Tahoe,” local boat captain Joby Cefalu, who had helped authorities attempting to save people, said.
The identities of the deceased have not been released.
The search for the two missing people remains ongoing.
