Rescuers pulled 18 people to safety from San Francisco Bay early Saturday after their boat capsized in South SF’s Oyster Point Channel. No injuries were reported, local authorities said.
Petty Officer Loumania Stewart said the Coast Guard received a mayday call at 8:40 a.m. Saturday, reporting that a 14-foot boat had been hit by a wave and its passengers had landed in the water.
Authorities aboard the Oyster Point Challenger, a rescue vessel in the area, pulled out 15 people and the Brisbane harbormaster and Brisbane Police Department located the remaining three people, Stewart said.
“The scene was not chaotic,” Brisbane police Sgt. Giovanni Perez said. “All we saw was the capsized boat, and we began rescuing the three other individuals that were in the water.”
The boat and its passengers reportedly belong to a rowing club.
All 18 people were returned to the Oyster Point Marina, where they were wrapped in blankets and evaluated. None reported any medical concerns, authorities said.
Stewart said the rescue was the result of collaboration between several local agencies including the Coast Guard, San Mateo Police Department, San Francisco Fire Department and San Francisco Police Department.
The capsized boat is the most recent in a series of similar incidents that have taken place across the Bay Area in recent weeks, but this is the only incident without reported injuries or fatalities. Three different boats either capsized or went missing in Sonoma County during the month of November.
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Source: www.mercurynews.com