One person has died, and three others remain missing after a boat carrying about 20 adults capsized and sank near Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay.
San Francisco fire officials said the emergency call came in just after 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, when the boat was about 600 yards from Alcatraz. Crews found the 50-foot vessel almost fully underwater, with the motor still running and fuel leaking into the bay.
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Authorities said crews rescued 16 people. Crews took three injured passengers to a hospital, and officials expected them to be released Tuesday night.
Rescuers brought one severely injured man to shore and performed CPR, but authorities pronounced him dead.
Fire Chief Dean Crispen said authorities believe most of the passengers were family members taking part in some kind of memorial service.
Witnesses reported rough seas before the vessel began taking on water and turned over in the bay, Crispen said, though officials were still investigating exactly what caused the boat to sink.
Two men who helped rescue passengers described a chaotic scene to Reuters.
Justin Marceline, a longshoreman, and Mike Montoya, a commercial fisherman, said they arrived to find people clinging to the side of the sinking vessel. Montoya said he saw people below the waterline, inside the boat, banging on submerged windows as they tried to get out.
“It was complete chaos when we showed up,” Marceline told Reuters.
Marceline said rescuers pulled some exhausted survivors from the water while others panicked and flailed. He said he tried to calm people by telling them to look at him and that they would be OK.
The Coast Guard and local agencies continued searching for the missing people Tuesday night using divers, helicopters and boats. Mayor Daniel Lurie called it an “all hands on deck” search-and-rescue operation involving San Francisco fire officials, police, Oakland police and the Coast Guard.
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