SAN FRANCISCO — A deadly boating accident unfolded Tuesday afternoon in the waters off San Francisco, leaving one person dead and two others unaccounted for after a pontoon boat capsized near Alcatraz Island, authorities reported.
San Francisco Fire Chief Dean Crispen said emergency crews arrived to find a three-story pontoon vessel that had been carrying 19 people largely submerged beneath the surface. “It was a vessel that was capsized and mostly under the water,” Crispen said.
The incident was initially called in as a boat fire, but Crispen noted that turned out not to be the case. “But we now don’t have any evidence of that,” he said. Injuries among those rescued were linked to the impact of falling into the water, with no burn injuries reported.
The individual who later died had been pulled from the water along with the 16 survivors. All 16 rescued were transported to Gashouse Cove Marina, a small boat harbor in San Francisco.
Fire Lt. Mariano Elias described the vessel as a “ponton pleasure boat” located roughly 600 yards — about 550 meters — from Alcatraz Island. The emergency call came in just after 3:30 p.m., he said.
Chief Crispen indicated the boat was believed to have set out from near the St. Francis Yacht Club in San Francisco. As the search for the two missing persons continued, crews deployed divers, helicopters, and 11 vessels to comb the area. “Right now we are in full rescue mode,” Crispen said.
Video from a local Fox television station captured Fire Department boats working to pull survivors from the water near the mostly submerged wreckage, with debris floating in the surrounding area. Live footage from the scene also showed a man and a woman, both wrapped in blankets, seated near an ambulance.
In addition to the San Francisco Fire Department, the Coast Guard and Oakland police also assisted in the rescue effort, Lt. Elias said.
