Rescuers searching Lake Cumberland for two men presumed drowned
Rescue squads were searching a deep part of Lake Cumberland Saturday for two men presumed to have drowned.
The men and two women were swimming near a houseboat in Russell County on Friday when the boat started to drift away, said H.M. Bottom, the emergency manager for the county.
The women said the men swam to try to catch the boat but disappeared under the water and didn’t resurface, Bottom said.
Another boat picked up the women soon after.
The incident happened about 4:15 p.m. Friday in a section of the lake called Low Gap, between the Safe Harbor Jamestown marina and Wolf Creek Dam.
The water is about 150 feet deep in that area and murky, making it impractical to search for the missing swimmers by diving, Bottom said.
Squads from Russell and Wayne counties dragged the lake Friday until dark and resumed on Saturday.
Bottom said he also was talking with other rescue squads, including a crew from Boone County that has sonar equipment, about joining the search.
The two men, who were in their 20s, were not from Kentucky, Bottom said.
