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Colorado River Boat Crash Leaves Four ‘Presumed Submerged’

SHUTTERSTOCK/ Budimir Jevtic

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Neetu Arnold Contributor
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A boat crash on the Colorado River along the California-Arizona border left four missing and sank two boats Saturday night.

Four people were “presumed submerged,” according to The Associated Press Sunday.

One person experienced life-threatening injuries and was taken to a hospital in Las Vegas, The AP reported. Nine others are being treated at local hospitals.

Two boats were reported to have crashed head-on and officials from the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office were contacted at 8:03 p.m., Victor Valley News reported Saturday. They commenced the search at 9 p.m.

The crash was so violent that both boats sank.

Some passengers were thrown off the boat while others jumped, according to San Bernardino County Fire District spokesman Eric Sherwin.

“We had victims of this collision that were located 3 to 5 miles downstream from the original point of impact,” Sherwin said, Fox News reported.

None of the passengers were wearing life vests, according to Mohave County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Anita Mortensen, reported The AP.

The river’s depth ranges from shallow to 30 feet deep, Sherwin told The AP. (RELATED: Swiss Plane Crash Kills All 20 Passengers On Board)

The search, however, had to be put off until Sunday morning because the river was too dangerous to put rescuers into the flowing river at night, according to The AP.

The Colorado River at the Moabi Regional Park is busiest between spring break and a little after Labor Day weekend, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department’s website.

A total of 27 accidents and 24 injuries occurred in the California portion of the Colorado River in 2016, data from the Division of Boating and Waterways showed. No fatalities were recorded for the 2016 year.

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