Man drowns in Lake Lanier while swimming to boat

Photo byNowHabersham.com

A 46-year-old man from Vinings, Georgia, is dead after he drowned while swimming in Lake Lanier in Forsyth County.

According to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources Law Enforcement Division, Hasani Kamau Widemond was swimming from shore back to his boat at Bethel Park when he went under and did not resurface.

Soon after arriving on the scene, game wardens located Widemond’s body in approximately 25 feet of water using boat-mounted sonar, says GA DNR Public Affairs Officer Mark McKinnon. Forsyth County Fire divers recovered Widemond’s body using Hall County Fire’s remote-operated vessel.

McKinnon says Widemond was not wearing a flotation device.

Elsewhere in Georgia, game wardens responded to a boating accident on Tybee Island in Chatham County. According to a DNR press release, two jet skis collided on Saturday, August 31. No one was injured.

Stepped up patrols

It has been a quiet holiday weekend on one of Northeast Georgia’s other major lakes. No problems have been reported on Lake Hartwell since the holiday weekend reporting period began at midnight on August 31.

Game wardens are patrolling the state’s lakes and rivers, looking for boaters operating under the influence and other unsafe activities. They remind boaters and swimmers to wear properly fitted personal flotation devices when on the open water.

“The key to a safe day at the lake is to think about safety before you leave home, and then practice safety by wearing your life jacket, designating an operator if you are drinking alcohol, and follow the ‘rules of the road’ while operating a vessel,” says McKinnon. “We want everyone to enjoy Georgia’s beautiful waterways, and we also want everyone to go home safely at the end of the day.”

Georgia’s boating law requires children under 13 to wear a life jacket and everyone onboard to have easy access to one.

The Labor Day holiday runs through September 2.