4 injured in boating accidents on July 4th on Lake Lanier

Four people were hospitalized with injuries in two separate incidents on Lake Lanier on Thursday.

According to Mark McKinnon of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, two jet skis crashed at Buford Dam Park in Gwinnett County around 1 p.m. on July 4. Upon investigation, game wardens determined that both jet skis were rental vehicles.

Game wardens arrested the person who rented the boat to the offending operator for violating laws and regulations. The person who caused the accident fled on foot before police arrived and could not be found, McKinnon says.

The three occupants of the other jet ski were taken to Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville. They were treated for cuts, abrasions and multiple broken bones.

The investigation is ongoing.

In another incident, McKinnon said, a male boater broke a rib when he jumped off the side of a boat into shallow water. The accident occurred around 2:30 p.m. at Burton Mill Park on Lake Lanier.

An ambulance took the injured boater to Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville.

The injuries on Lake Lanier are the only injuries reported on state waterways so far on July 4. The reporting deadline for the holiday is July 7 at 11:59 p.m.