UPDATE: Friday, 9/3/2010 5:30 p.m.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- It was a scary night out on the water for a father and his son. Their fishing boat was hit by a barge and they had to swim to safety.

The accident happened on the Kanawha River near Haddad Riverfront Park Thursday night. At the time of the accident there was a concert going on and several boats were docked at the levy.

Captain Bob and Tony Wazelle were by the river when the accident happened.

"I seen the barge spit the bass boat out," Bob said.

"Me and Bob just run and jumped in my little boat down there," Wazelle said. "And took off after it to see if we could find anybody in the water. And we couldn't find anybody."

"We thought the people were dead," Bob said. "We were hollering and there wasn't anyone there."

Michael Patton and his son -- also named Michael -- survived the ordeal. They were fishing using a small trolling engine. Investigators with the Division of Natural Resources said when the son saw the Barge coming he tried to start the main engine, but couldn't get it to start.

The pair jumped out of the boat and swam to shore. The barge ran over the boat from behind. The dad told investigators he was trapped under the barge at one point. Both escaped unscathed.

"I don't know what happened," Wazelle said. "The barge was lit properly, the fishing boat was lit properly. guess they didn't see each other."

Lt. David Trader with the DNR said with the concert going the father and son may have not heard the barge coming. He also said its sometimes hard to see at night.

"The front of the barges are typically red, green and yellow and on the recreational boats you'll see red, green and white lights," Lt. Trader said. "In the city area those are a lot of background type lights in the skyline so that can blend into the city lights."

"You really got to watch for them," Bob said. "They will slip up on you and run you down and you're done. They were two very lucky men last night to come out of it unscathed."

This Labor Day weekend will likely be a busy one for boaters. Officials say pay attention and never anchor in the channel where barges travel.

The U.S. Coast Guard is looking into the role the barge played in the accident. The investigation is still underway.

Division of Natural Resources officials say Michael D. Patton and his son, Michael P. Patton, of the Cabin Creek area were fishing on the river when their boat was hit by a barge.

The father and son managed to jump out of the boat before it was struck and swim to shore safely. The Pattons were not injured.

DNR officials say sometimes in city settings the lights on the barges blend in with the horizon. Also, Thursday night there was a concert at Haddad Riverfront Park that could have made it difficult to hear the barge approaching.

DNR and the Coast Guard are continuing to investigate the accident.

The accident happened around 10 p.m. Thursday on the Kanawha River in Charleston near Haddad Riverfront Park.

Two people on board the boat where able to jump off and swim to shore, neither were hurt in the incident.

There was a concert going on for the H.O.G. Motorcycle Rally at Haddad Riverfront Park when the accident happened.

Randy Farnham who is from St. Albans was at the concert and told WSAZ.com " We were so taken by the whole event. I couldn't believe that I'm watching this guy being run over. People could be hurt out there and, nobody could do anything. So, we just kind of clamored about, trying to holler at the band to tell them what the situation was, that they needed to stop. We were just trying to get attention to the matter."

After the crash the barge was stopped, so the Coast Guard and other agencies could begin their investigation into what caused the accident.

The names of the people on board that boat have not been released.

Keep clicking on WSAZ.com for more updates.

Dispatchers tell WSAZ there are people swimming in the water right now near Haddad Riverfront Park.

We are told that two people have been pulled from the water without injury.

Emergency crews are lining MacCorkle Avenue and Kanawha Boulevard.

This all happened around 10 p.m.

No other details are being released right now.

We have crews on the scene and will continue to update this story as we get more information. Keep clicking on WSAZ.com for the latest.