Boat capsizes on Lake Michigan in Chicago; one man is missing

CHICAGO (CBS) – A man was reported missing Friday night after a boat capsized near 31st Street Beach on Lake Michigan.

The boat capsized at 7:33 p.m. south of 31st Street Harbor, police said. CBS News Chicago learned that more than a dozen people were on the boat.

A major operation by the Chicago police and fire department followed, and the Coast Guard was in the air with a helicopter searching for people who might have been left behind in the water.

Video from the scene showed the boat lying on its side in the water while someone shouted that the Coast Guard was on the way. People could also be seen on the rocks along the shore helping boaters swim to safety, and boaters in life jackets could be seen aboard smaller boats after they were rescued.

At least three people who were on the boat – two women and a man – were taken to Insight Hospital & Medical Center. It was not clear what type of injuries they sustained, but dispatch reports indicated they were in good condition.

A man of unknown age was still missing until Friday night.

Wynter Barginear was on the boat. She was moved and close to tears as she told what had happened.

“I’m traumatized. I’ll probably never get on a boat again. I had a bad feeling when we got on the boat. It’s just very traumatic. You know, I fell in the water, went head under, came back up and grabbed the boat to save my life,” she said, “and if these two wonderful people hadn’t come here to help me, I could have lost my life tonight doing something purely recreational.”

Barginear said the boat was chartered and when they returned to port, things went wrong.

“We came around the corner, I told the captain that the boat was rocking really badly on the right side. I asked the captain, ‘Do we need to distribute the weight because it’s rocking pretty badly?'” Barginear said. “He said, ‘Oh no, it’s going to be OK. It’s going to be OK.’ As soon as he said that, the boat turns and tips over.”

Barginear said her best friend went into the water – and several people on the boat, including her and her best friend, couldn’t swim. She said her husband and four other people were trapped under the boat and had to break the glass to get out when water came in.

Barginear said she was celebrating a cousin’s birthday with the group on the boat.

“And I mean, it’s screaming – one person was, you know, my cousin whose birthday we were celebrating, she was in the water and they were screaming to save her,” she said. “My other friend’s boyfriend was helping throw people life jackets and jackets so they could hold on.”

Even those who were not injured in some cases had to walk back to their vehicles without belongings or shoes – and some did not even have the keys to their cars. They lost all their personal belongings when the boat capsized.

Survivors said the person missing late Friday was a man who was helping the boat’s captain. It was not clear who the man worked for.

The search seemed to have ended for the night around 10 p.m., as the fire department, police marine unit and coast guard dive teams had already left the scene.