Party boat sinks with 12 people — including 4 kids — on board on July 4, Texas cops say

Twelve people, including four children, were saved from a party boat as it sank in a Texas lake on the Fourth of July, officials said.

Rescuers responded to a mayday call at around 9:45 p.m. on Lake Conroe, KTRK reported.

A pontoon boat stopped to help but could only hold nine extra people, according to Fox 26 Houston. The Conroe Fire Department rescued the others, according to the outlet.

Everyone who had been on the 22-foot boat was wearing a life jacket, according to Houston Public Media.

Video shared by KTRK shows the empty boat bobbing in the water as a fire department boat with emergency lights floats nearby.

The boat had been on the water to view the fireworks, the outlet reported.

The boat’s operator told deputies that a larger boat passing by at the end of the fireworks show caused a large wake that made their boat take on water, KTRK reported.

The Conroe Fire Department and the the Montgomery County Precinct 1 Constable’s Office did not respond to requests for comment from McClatchy News.

Lake Conroe is a 22,000-acre lake about 55 miles north of Houston.

This story was originally published July 5, 2023 at 7:13 PM with the headline "Party boat sinks with 12 people — including 4 kids — on board on July 4, Texas cops say."