A parade of boats on a Texas lake intended to honour Donald Trump threatened to turn disastrous when multiple vessels began sinking.
The “Trump Boat Parade” took place Saturday afternoon on Lake Travis, northwest of Austin, Texas. Authorities began getting distress calls shortly after 12pm, said Kristen Dark, spokesperson for the Travis County Sheriff’s Office.
“During the boat parade we received multiple calls from boats that were in distress and several boats did sink,” she said.
The calls came in from “all over the parade route” and described situations that included a boat taking on water, a boat capsizing and a boat “stalled and smacking on the rocks,” Dark said. “It was all over the place.”
Dark did not know the exact number of boats that participated in the event overall.
“There were a lot of boats on our lake,” she said. “And it’s a very, very large lake.”
At least four boats sank, according to The New York Times. Firefighters on the scene rescued people from the water, the Lake Travis Fire Fighters Association president told the Times. No injuries were reported as of mid afternoon.
The sinkings were under investigation, but law enforcement did not suspect foul play, Dark told The Associated Press.
A description of the event on Facebook told participants to “decorate your boats in patriotic colors and fly as many Trump flags as she can handle. Let’s really make a statement!”