CONROE, Texas – Crews in Montgomery County responded to a water rescue involving several people in Lake Conroe after a boat sank late Tuesday.
The incident began when a fireworks show ended near Walden Marina sometime after 10 p.m.
Chico Cantu, a resident, spoke to KPRC 2′s Cathy Hernandez and said the lake was overcrowded for July Fourth.
“It turned into about 200 boats! It was pretty wild.”
Cantu said some boaters would go too fast, too close to other boats.
“Then it’s dark of course, there’s still boats moving around at nighttime so you got to be real careful because some of them go a little faster than normal.” he added.
He even had to yell at one of them, “Hey! No wake!”
As the boats in the area were headed back to the marina, one boat reportedly caused a wake that made another boat take on water. That boat began to sink.
Twelve people, including four children, were inside the boat. Officials said all passengers wore life jackets.
A man who called for help told officials that several of the passengers affected swam to his pontoon after he stopped for help.
Other passengers had to be rescued from the sinking boat.
Officials believe several boats had docking lights on, making it difficult for other boaters to navigate at night.
No injuries were reported.
Cantu says people need to use extra caution.
“Most boats out here they get whatever they can to get out there and the biggest problem we have is you overload the boats,” said Cantu.