Coast Guard to end San Francisco Bay search for 3 at sunset
by Darryl Coote · UPIJuly 15 (UPI) -- A search for three people missing in San Francisco Bay after their cabin cruiser sank a day earlier will end when the sun sets on Wednesday, the U.S. Coast Guard said.
Eleven boats and four aircraft have been searching hundreds of miles of water for those reported missing after a cabin cruiser capsized off the coast of Alcatraz on Tuesday afternoon.
Officials initially said 19 people were aboard the 49-foot, three-level Volare cabin cruiser and that 17 people had been rescued from the water, leaving two people unaccounted for. One person rescued was later pronounced dead. A dog on board also died. But officials have since said 20 people were on the craft and that three were missing.
Capt. Jarod Toczko, sector commander of Coast Guard Sector San Francisco, announced the deadline for the search during a 2 p.m. press conference, explaining that none of the missing had been found, despite a search of more than 950 square nautical miles and more than 1,700 miles of track line.
"We have completely saturated the search area," he said.
"As I look at the extensive search effort we have put forth to this point, I look at the probability of success of locating a survivor within the search area given everything we've put forth and all the environmental conditions, my intention is to suspend active search operations at sunset this evening."
He said the families have been notified and crews will continue to search until the sun sets.
Dean Crispen, chief of the San Francisco Fire Department, said that three survivors who were transported to the hospital have been released and were "doing okay."
The person who died was identified Wednesday by the San Francisco Office of the Chief Medical Examiner as 79-year-old Clifford Joseph Boisa of Sutter County.
Authorities were notified at 3:37 p.m. PDT about a boat in distress in the San Francisco Bay. Witnesses had incorrectly identified steam emanating from the boat as smoke, leading initial reports to indicate a fire was on board. Civilians boaters were first to arrive on the scene and are being hailed for saving lives.
The cause of the capsizing is under investigation, but Toczko told reporters that survivors and those who responded to the scene said that the boat was hit by a wave that caused it to list heavily, lose its stability and roll over.
Some occupants were thrown into the water, Toczko said, adding that there is a "high possibility" that others had been trapped inside the vessel.
Crispen had said during a Tuesday press conference that all aboard the vessel were adults, mostly family members and close friends who were participating in "some kind of memorial service."
San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie said that while he laments the tragedy, he is "incredibly proud of the all hands-on-deck effort."
"From Marin to Oakland to San Francisco to the good Samaritans, it was truly all hands-on-deck effort to save 16 people," he said. "And my heart goes out to the families of the victims."