Just after 8 pm Saturday night the “Lake Conroe Queen”, a party boat capsized near Regency Point on Lake Conroe. The boat with 53 men women and small children on board was hit by an unexpected high wind and five to six-foot waves. According to several personal weather stations on Weather Underground winds of just under 20 miles per hour hit the area at about 7:54 p.m. Calls started to come into 911 with reports of 20-30 people in the water and some still trapped in the boat. The number kept climbing. Residents of Regency Point watched it happen and several of them jumped into action pulling people from the water. Several children and babies were among the ones in the water. Several residents pointed to one resident who they say was a Navy Seal. Many say he himself is responsible for the rescue of 15-20 mostly children by him alone. Other residents used ropes and kayaks to rescue people in the diesel fuel-covered water. Many life vests were still floating after the rescues along with personal effects, shoes, and plastic chairs. A resident pulled one man out who had gone under, he was taken onboard a Conroe Fire Boat with CPR being performed. He was transported to Conroe Regional Hospital where he was pronounced deceased. Another woman was transported after she suffered a panic attack. The male in the ambulance with her was her husband, he was uninjured. Firefighters from Conroe and Montgomery Fire Departments worked the scene, Montgomery County Precinct 1 Lake Patrol also responded along with their dive team. It was initially feared there could be several more victims which may have drow, however, that was not the case as everyone was accounted for. Ritvid Sahi who is 10-years-old was one of the young ones thrown into the water. He said a friend had asked a crew member about capsizing and was told it could not, A short time later it did. Sahi said it was really scary. He said a guy got a kayak got him to the dock and out of the water. He said, “some of the parents were screaming for the people onshore to help them but they just stood there recording us but he was really thankful for the people who saved him.” Abhigit Jmethita said he did not know how to swim when his life vest came off as he went into the water. He has his 18-month-old child and 6-yer-old child with him. He said Justin, a crew member jumped in and saved him. Louis DeLuna shot close to 20-minutes of the incident after the boat rolled over. In his video, you see multiple people in the water. You see residents running along the dock helping. Firefighters used hoses to rinse fuel off the people who were in the water. The Lake Conroe Queen is a fairly new boat on the Lake docked on Old 105 at the 1097 Watersports Dock. The Lake Conroe Queen is a 60 passenger, double-deck sternwheeler paddleboat. It’s a reproduction of the 1860’s riverboat. The Lake Conroe Queen was built in 1986 in Grand Ledge, Michigan, and has traveled to Indiana, Colorado, and Louisiana with Captain Dale providing tours and private parties in each location! Passengers say they were about 40-minutes into their 90-minute sunset cruise when the incident happened.
