A woman drowned in Lake Tahoe on Friday, and a man who jumped in to try and rescue her had to be hospitalized for severe hypothermia.
The woman fell off a boat carrying her, six children, and the man, reported the Tahoe Douglas Fire Prevention District. She fell into the water near Zephyr Cove, on the east side of the lake close to the California-Nevada border.
With the woman and the man in the water, the boat with six children drifted towards the middle of the lake. They were rescued, unharmed, by a fire district boat crew. Early reports say the children’s shouting raised the alarm, prompting another boater to call 911.
Tragedy on #Tahoe #drowning Female drowns man jumps in to save her has a life vest on, he suffers severe hypothermia. The boat was a drift with six kids on board in middle of Lake by Zephyr Cove. M-24 rescues and transports male & tries to resuscitate woman. pic.twitter.com/V2iR8qZaJ1
— Tahoe Douglas Fire (@tahoefire) October 10, 2020
Rescue personnel were sadly unable to revive the woman. The man, who had been in the water for more than an hour, was taken to Barton Hospital with severe hypothermia. He remains in a critical condition.
The SacBee reports that the woman was the mother of some of the children, part of a blended family, but authorities did not immediately know the relationships between the people involved and the ages of the children.
This is absolutely terrible. This man & woman should be punished for leaving the 6 kids alone in the boat. Who does this?