8 who died when boat capsized on Lake Tahoe were not wearing life vests, investigators say

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. (AP) — None of the eight people killed when a boat capsized during a sudden and fierce storm last month on Lake Tahoe in California were wearing life vests, federal investigators said in an initial report released Wednesday.

Four members of a family who were celebrating a birthday were among those who died when the 28-foot (8.5-meter) gold Chris-Craft vessel was inundated and flipped over amid 10-foot (3-meter) waves June 21 on the lake’s western edge.

Weather was mostly calm when the party of 10 left the marina around noon, but within about two hours winds were strong enough to create whitecaps, according to the preliminary report by the National Transportation Safety Board.

By 2:30 p.m., as the boat was returning to shore, it began to hail and the vessel ended up sideways to the growing waves.

“The boat took on water and some of the passengers attempted to bail the water out of the boat,” the report states. “At one point, a particularly large wave overtook the boat.”