Officials are searching Lake Lanier in Hall County after a boat overturned Friday afternoon.
Officials believe four people were on board a 38-to-40-foot cigarette-type boat that overturned on the lake just before 4 p.m., Department of Natural Resources spokesman Maj. Stephen Adams said.
“There were other boats on the lake, but at this time we don’t believe there was a collision,” Adams said.
The catamaran style boat, described as a racing power boat, was still mostly submerged in water at the south end of the lake, Adams said.
When officials arrived, many good Samaritans on nearby boats were searching for the missing people. Divers deployed to search, but left the water around sunset.
Heavy boating traffic and waves create dangerous conditions for dive teams so officials began using SONAR technology to search underwater after dark.
The DNR critical reconstruction team will continue the investigation, trying to understand what mechanical or other factors led to the boat overturning.
The boat was still mostly submerged in the water at 9:30 p.m. so investigators couldn’t tell what damage existed or what factors contributed to the accident.
“Speed may have been a factor,” Adams said.
Adams said officers will likely be on scene overnight and into the morning, but safety concerns such as boat traffic will determine whether dive teams can resume searching on Saturday.
>>MORE: Just how deadly is Lake Lanier?
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