NEW YORK, Feb 24 (NNN-AGENCIES) — At least three people have died, one person remains missing and two others were hospitalized after a boat capsized in the Ambrose Channel, southeast of Breezy Point, on Sunday, according to officials.
Authorities responded to reports of a “vessel in distress” and a “sinking boat” with individuals in the water around 12:04 p.m., according to the US Coast Guard. Four of the five people recovered were unresponsive, officials said.
Coast Guard crews administered CPR to some of the victims, officials said. Two were airlifted to Staten Island University Hospital, while three others were taken to the Coast Guard Station Sandy Hook, where emergency medical personnel were waiting.
Officials said one individual remained missing on Sunday night as the Coast Guard, along with the NYPD, FDNY and New Jersey State Police continued search efforts. The Sandy Hook Pilots also assisted in the rescue operation, the U.S. Coast Guard said.
The incident occurred approximately five miles southeast of Breezy Point, a neighborhood at the tip of Queens’ Rockaway Peninsula. The Coast Guard said it received notification from New York City 911 operators about a vessel taking on water and immediately dispatched three rescue boats and an MH-65 helicopter from Coast Guard Air Station Atlantic City.
The identities of the victims have not been released.
The Ambrose Channel is the only shipping channel in and out of the Port of New York and New Jersey, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers New York District.
