GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. --
Rescuers found three teenagers who became lost while boating on the Chattahoochee River Tuesday night.
The teens, two males, 18 and 16, and a girl, 16, launched a paddle boat at Settles Bridge Road and were trying to make their way down the river to Medlock Bridge Road when they became lost.
They beached the boat on a sand bar in the middle of the river. The 18-year-old male made it to shore and hiked to safety.
Firefighters from Gwinnett Fire, Forsyth Fire, and Johns Creek Fire each deployed boats in the river at different points in an attempt to locate and rescue the lost teenagers. The Gwinnett Fire-Swiftwater Rescue Team was called to the scene. The river borders the three jurisdictions.
A Gwinnett County police officer spotted the teens on the sand bar near Crescent River Place and Elkhorn Hill Drive and was able to wade out to them. The officer and the two teens were able to wade back to the riverbank.
"The river can be a dangerous place, especially after dark. We were fortunate that the teens were not directly in the water and that they were found safe," said Captain Tommy Rutledge, spokesman for the Gwinnett Fire Department.
According to police the two had minor cuts and bruising, and were were cold, but did not need medical assistance.
All three were taken home.
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