BURLINGTON– The bodies of four missing people following a boating collision early Saturday morning near Burlington have been recovered. All four of the victims were in their early twenties and their bodies were recovered within approximately 100 yards of where the collision occurred in about 10 to 12 feet of water. None of the victims were wearing life jackets.  The names of the victims as well as eight others who were injured in the collision are still being withheld pending notification of family members.

The collision occurred between two jon boats, one with a single passenger and the other carrying 11 people, in the O’Connell Slough area of the Mississippi River near Burlington. The call for rescue personnel came in at 1:43 a.m. The Des Moines County Sheriff’s Department, the Burlington Police Department, the Burlington Fire Department and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources responded to the call.

One of the people injured was air-lifted to University Hospitals in Iowa City while the other seven were transported to Great River Medical Center in Burlington.