LAKE GENEVA — Lake Geneva officials are still investigating a boating accident that killed three children after a severe storm swept across Walworth County on Friday, kicking up waves on Geneva Lake and capsizing a boat that had 10 people in it.
The Geneva Lake Law Enforcement Agency and the state Department of Natural Resources are jointly investigating the boat accident that officials say left three children drowned on Geneva Lake.
Officials say people on the boat were trying to get the vessel to safety as the storm intensified, but wind and waves caused the boat to take on water and capsize.
Emergency responders say they rescuers pulled six adults and one child from the lake safely after the boat capsized, but three children who’d been on the boat before it capsized remained missing.
According to an official statement posted by the Lake Geneva Police Department, rescuers found the three children dead later on Friday, following an “intensive search†of the water.
Paramedics tried to resuscitate the children but were not successful. All three were pronounced dead.
In an accident public safety officials are calling a tragedy, officials say all the children, including the three killed, were wearing life jackets when the boat capsized.
Officials say the circumstances of the boat’s capsizing are under investigation. Authorities have not yet publicly identified the children killed, pending family notification.
Friday’s storm that hit Walworth County created widespread power outages in Lake Geneva and outlying areas, initially leaving 3,000 people without power.
The outages came after high winds knocked down trees and tree limbs, taking out power lines.
The City of Lake Geneva says it could be another few days before Alliant Energy and ATC, the operator of major transmission lines that power the city, can restore damaged lines and fully restore power.
The city says Lake Geneva’s north side is the area with heaviest outages.
Alliant had deployed 60 additional line workers to repair transmission lines.
The City of Lake Geneva plans to resume tree limb cleanup Monday.
Meanwhile, Walworth County has activated a call center to help residents get resources, including bottled water.
The county and Red Cross alongside other service agencies are organizing resource collection and distribution.
City officials expect it will take several weeks to clean up the storm damage.