One person died and three other people were missing near Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay when a boat carrying 20 people who were taking part in a memorial service capsized Tuesday afternoon, officials said.
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The attendees, all described as adults, most of whom were family members, were aboard the 50-foot, three-deck cabin cruiser based out of Stockton when it may have been struck by a wave in rough waters, authorities said.
“Our understanding was there was some kind of memorial service that they were engaging in. That’s why they were using this particular vessel,” San Francisco Fire Chief Dean Crispen said at a news conference Tuesday night.
When members of the San Francisco Police Marine Unit arrived, they found a man in the water who was in “severe distress,” Crispen said. He was taken onto the responders’ boat and given CPR but was eventually declared dead.
A dog was also on board and is dead, he said.
When first responders arrived, some people were in the water, others were on the sinking boat, and others were falling into the water, Crispen said. Thirteen people were safely rescued, and three more were taken to hospitals, where they were stabilized and were expected to be released Tuesday night, he said.
The three missing people were the focus of an intense search-and-rescue operation that will continue through the night, Coast Guard Lt. John Corvino said at the news conference. Searchers were going to scan the sea from the air and the surface, he said.
Firefighters are “in full rescue mode,” with 11 boats and divers as part of the response, Crispin said.
“We are going to continue for hours to make sure that we find these … missing people, if possible,” he said.
The vessel launched from San Francisco’s St. Francis Yacht Club, Crispen said.
Helicopter video from NBC Bay Area showed responding rescue boats and debris floating in the water. Video from the station appeared to show some of the rescued people with blankets on shore.
Local police departments and private vessels also responded, Crispen said.
San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie said, “This is an all-hands-on-deck search and hopefully rescue.”
Crispen said that at this time of year there are typically whitecaps in the water from wind, which is challenging. But, he said, regardless of the wind, “we’re going to continue to search either way.”
Alcatraz Island is the site of the famous prison around 1 mile offshore in San Francisco Bay. It was closed as a federal prison in 1963 and is now a national park.
Crispen said the search would be extensive.
“Our standard operating procedure is to continue to search as long as it’s safe enough for us to search,” he said.
He said divers were in the water, helicopters were above, and officials were searching areas where survivors in the water would tend to move to.
“This search will go on for some time,” he said.
