By AP/KWMU
Alton, Ill. – Four people died Sunday night after the roughly 20-foot ski boat they were on ran into a dam on the Mississippi River near Alton.
There were six people in all on the boat; the two who did not die are hospitalized with serious injuries.
Authorities have not released the identities of the victims.
Assistant Chief Gary Claxton, with the Alton Fire Department, says the lockmaster at the Melvin Price Lock and Dam called in a report of a boat in distress at 7:35 Sunday evening.
Part of the Mississippi was temporarily closed to river traffic near the accident site.