At least one person has died and two are missing after a pontoon boat capsized in the San Francisco Bay between the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz Island on Tuesday afternoon. Emergency services launched a rescue mission for all those on board, with 16 people rescued from the water.
Rescue Operation Underway
San Francisco Fire Chief Dean Crispen reported the toll and said crews arriving on the scene near Alcatraz Island found a three-deck pontoon vessel that was carrying 19 people. “It was a vessel that was capsized and mostly under the water,” Crispen said. The incident was initially reported as a fire, “but we now don’t have any evidence of that,” he added.
Some of the people were injured from falling into the water, but there were no reports of burns, Crispen said. The person who died was pulled from the water along with the 16 but died later.
Search and Rescue Efforts
Crews continued to search the water for the missing with divers, helicopters and 11 vessels, Crispen added: “Right now we are in full rescue mode.” All those rescued were taken to Gashouse Cove Marina, a small craft harbor in San Francisco.
Fire Lt. Mariano Elias said the vessel, described as a “pontoon pleasure boat,” was about 600 yards (about 550 meters) from Alcatraz and the emergency call came in just after 3:30 p.m. Crispen said the boat was believed to have launched near the St. Francis Yacht Club in San Francisco.
Visual Evidence and Assistance
Video images from a local Fox station showed a Fire Department boat deployed to rescue people who had been on the vessel, which was largely submerged with objects from the boat floating nearby. The Coast Guard and Oakland police also helped rescue people, Elias said.
