Four people were taken to the hospital after suffering injuries in two separate incidents Thursday on Lake Lanier.
According to Mark McKinnon with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, two jet skis crashed at Buford Dam Park in Gwinnett County around 1 p.m. on July 4. While investigating, game wardens determined both jet skis were rentals.
Game wardens arrested the person renting the craft to the at-fault operator for failing to comply with laws and regulations. The person who caused the crash fled on foot before law enforcement arrived and was not located, McKinnon says.
The three occupants of the other jet ski were transported to Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville. They were treated for lacerations, abrasions, and several fractures.
The investigation is ongoing.
In a separate incident, McKinnon says a male boater fractured a rib when he jumped off the side of a boat into shallow water. The accident happened at approximately 2:30 p.m. at Burton Mill Park on Lake Lanier.
An ambulance transported the injured boater to Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville.
The injuries on Lake Lanier are the only Fourth of July holiday injuries reported so far on state waterways. The holiday reporting period continues through 11:59 p.m. July 7.
