Officials have identified the boater killed in a weekend wreck on Lake Hartwell as 17-year-old Eric David Beasley of Canton. Officials say Beasley was alone in a bass boat when he died in a collision with a cabin cruiser.
Georgia game wardens patrolling the lake were notified of the collision around 1:50 p.m. on Sunday, May 22.
“When officers arrived on scene near Carters Ferry Boat Ramp, they found one deceased male who was the lone occupant and operator of a bass boat,” says Georgia Department of Natural Resources Law Enforcement spokesperson Mark McKinnon.
Two of the six people aboard the cabin cruiser were injured, Mckinnon says. EMS transported them to Anderson Memorial Hospital. Hart County Sheriff Mike Cleveland reported their injuries did not appear to be life-threatening. Georgia DNR has not released their names.
Personnel from the Hart County Sheriff’s Office, Hart County EMS, Anderson EMS, and South Carolina DNR assisted on the scene.
The Georgia DNR Critical Incident Reconstruction Team (CIRT) is investigating the fatal crash. The investigation is expected to take six to eight weeks.
