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3 killed in accidents, house burns down and man drowns on Fourth weekend
Storms late Monday thinned the boating crowd
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Three people were killed in accidents, another person drowned and a house was destroyed by fire during the July Fourth holiday weekend in Hall County, officials said.

On Sunday afternoon, two teenagers were killed when the Jeep they were riding in overturned on Whelchel Mill Road and they were ejected. On Saturday, a motorcyclist died in an accident in Gainesville.

About 5 p.m. Monday, a home in the 3600 block of Locovare Road in North Hall was destroyed. Neighbors reported explosions before the fire appeared.

And on Saturday a 23-year-old Gainesville man drowned in Lanier about 4:30 p.m., according to the Hall County Sheriff’s Office.

Jember Monjaras Henriquez was swimming with his family when he went under the lake’s surface at Van Pugh North Park in South Hall and did not resurface, said Sgt. Stephen Wilbanks of the sheriff’s office.

According to family members, the victim suffered from epilepsy and they believe he may have suffered a seizure.

Statewide, there were three drownings Sunday, two at Allatoona and the one at Lanier. On Saturday, a 45-year-old man drowned while swimming in the Altamaha River in Appling County.

The Georgia Department of Natural Resources said 35 people were charged with boating under the influence over the weekend and there were 13 boating-related accidents on Georgia waters.

DNR spokesman Rick Lavender said Monday’s thunderstorms and rain thinned the holiday boat traffic on waterways across the state. There were no drownings reported Monday.