Wabasha residents grieve following fatal boat crash on Lake Pepin: "They're just wonderful people"
In Wabasha, Minnesota, St Felix Catholic Church will open its doors on Monday night to a grieving community.
The deaths of three people in a boat crash on Lake Pepin over the weekend have rocked the small town situated in southeastern Minnesota on the Mississippi River. On Monday, the Wabasha fire chief confirmed to WCCO that two firefighters died in the incident.
"I still feel as stunned, honestly, as when our fire chief called; that just hasn't gone away yet," Wabasha Mayor Emily Durand said.
She called this a staggering loss for a small community that is deeply connected. Durand said the grief reaches far beyond the 30-person fire department.
"They're leaders, they're servants, they're just wonderful people," she said. "They are loved. They are friends. Like I said, they are responsible for families. There are children who are never in their lives going to be the same."
On Saturday night, first responders found three people clinging to an overturned pontoon boat on Lake Pepin and immediately began to search the water for three more missing people who were on the boat. Using drones, a helicopter and boats, the search stretched into Sunday when first responders recovered their bodies.
Authorities say the pontoon boat collided with a barge and that the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is investigating.
"This is really just day one that they are beginning this process of grief, and the community is right there with them," Durand said.
A City of Wabasha Facebook post said the city had "lost three exceptional community members."
On social media, those in Wabasha and surrounding communities shared messages of condolences for the victims and their families.
"The only thing we have at times like this is our faith, so it's very important that everyone in the community feel welcomed to pray tonight," John Hust, the deacon at St. Felix Catholic Church, said. "This is really a spiritual crisis, so our faith leaders and our school community and our public health, our Wabasha County public health will be there for everyone this evening."
Like many in the tight-knit town, Hust knows the victims.
"We have four kids that we raised here, and many of the people that were involved in the accident were schoolmates of our children," he said.
As Wabasha grieves, Hust said coming together in prayer and support is the first step in what will be a long healing process.
"Everybody knows the families, the couples, the children that they have, so it's just a great time of pain for the community as a whole," Hust said.
Officials have not yet released the names of the three people who died.
