An early morning boat crash on a lake in Middle Georgia left one man dead and six others injured, officials said Saturday.
The two-boat collision occurred shortly after 2 a.m. at Sandy Beach on Lake Tobesofkee. According to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, a cigarette boat occupied by two people collided with a pontoon boat with seven people aboard.
Everyone on the pontoon was injured, and two of the seven victims were taken to the hospital with skull fractures, Macon-Bibb Coroner Leon Jones told WMAZ. One man later died of his injuries and a woman in her 20s remains in critical condition, he told the news station.
The man killed was identified by the coroner as 22-year-old William Childs. An update on the remaining five victims wasn’t immediately available.
Following the deadly crash, the two people aboard the cigarette boat abandoned their vessel and left the scene, DNR spokesman Mark McKinnon told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. They were later found at a nearby home, and the driver of the boat is believed to have been under the influence at the time of the wreck, McKinnon said.
No arrests have been made, but McKinnon said DNR investigators will reconstruct the collision to determine exactly what happened. That investigation could take two to three months.
— Please return to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution for updates.
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story said an arrest had been made, but officials later clarified that charges are pending.
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