A pontoon boat capsized Tuesday afternoon about 600 yards off the shore of Alcatraz Island sits in the middle of San Francisco Bay in San Francisco. File Photo by Terry Schmitt/UPI | License Photo
July 14 (UPI) -- Authorities were searching waters near Alcatraz on Tuesday evening for two missing people after a pontoon boat carrying 19 people capsized off San Francisco, leaving one person dead and 16 others rescued.
The three-level vessel with 19 people aboard was reported on fire about 600 yards off the coast of Alcatraz at 3:35 p.m. PDT, San Francisco Fire Chief Dean Crispen said in a press conference. Though reported as a boat fire, no evidence of one was found.
Responders were deployed, with the police department's marine unit arriving on the scene to find one person "severely injured," he said. CPR was administered to the victim, who was transported to Gashouse Cove Marina on the shore, where they were pronounced dead.
Officers arrived to find people had fallen into the water while others were inside the top compartment of the vessel, he said.
