Another body has been found after a boat carrying 8 kids and 5 adults overturned in Lake Pueblo State Park
By Rebekah Riess, Holly Yan and Michelle Watson, CNN
Two people died after a boat flipped over in Colorado’s Lake Pueblo State Park over Memorial Day weekend, officials said.
The boat capsized with 13 people on board around 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s Southeast Region tweeted.
Shortly after the accident, rescuers saved eight juveniles and three adults from the 60-degree water, the department said. Searchers found the body of one adult and were still looking for another.
On Tuesday morning, the body of the remaining missing adult had been found, said Joe Stadterman, operations manager for Lake Pueblo State Park.
“Our MERT team (Marine Evidence Recovery Team) worked all night, and around 5:45 a.m., we located a victim in 107 feet of water,” Stadterman said.
A combination of bad weather and an overloaded vessel apparently contributed to the tragedy, Stadterman told CNN affiliate KKTV.
He said the 16-foot Sea Ray recreational motorboat typically has a capacity of five to six people.
“We know that this vessel had 13 people on board, and that really complicates things,” Stadterman told KKTV.
He said some of the children rescued from the overturned boat were wearing life jackets, but the two adults recovered were not.
“Life jackets are paramount,” Stadterman said.
“There are very, very few people, if any, in my career that we’ve ever recovered in flatwater drownings that have been wearing a life jacket. Your chances of survival in a boating accident with a life jacket on is substantially greater than not.”
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CNN’s Leslie Parrot contributed to this report.
