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Video shows 14 people rescued from boat sinking off Newport Beach

Passengers aboard a sinking boat near the Newport Beach Harbor entrance needed rescue on Sunday afternoon, a dramatic moment caught on video.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Department posted on social media a video with moments from the rescue, including as people jumped into the wind-whipped, choppy waters and made their way to the Sheriff’s Harbor Patrol and Newport Beach Lifeguard rescue boats.

The call to the Harbor Patrol for help came at 2:45 p.m. as the 41-foot Carver vessel was taking on water outside the harbor’s entrance.

“When deputies arrived, a Good Samaritan boat was towing the vessel, but it was sinking quickly and was almost submerged. All 14 passengers on the vessel jumped into the water, and were saved by Harbor Patrol, Newport Lifeguards and Good Samaritan vessels,” a post by the Sheriff’s Department says. “All passengers were transported to the Harbor Patrol office and cared for. The cause of the vessel sinking is under investigation.”

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A lifeguard first saw the boat taking on water at the bell buoy near the entrance channel, said Brian O’Rourke, Newport Beach Lifeguard battalion chief.

“It was riding low in the water, it just went down quickly,” he said. When rescue boats showed up, “they just jumped off in fear of their lives.”

Newport Beach lifeguards assisted one of the passengers, the others making their way to the boats.

“Everybody was accounted for, thank goodness,” O’Rourke said.

O’Rourke was not sure what will happen with the boat.

“The boat at this point is sitting on the ocean floor in 100 feet of water,” he said. “It’s pretty deep… there’s really nothing you can do with the boat.”

A dramatic video shows 14 people being rescued from a sinking boat off Newport Beach on Sunday, April 18, 2021. (Video screengrabs courtesy of Orange County Sherriff’s Department/@sharonkalili)


Source: Orange County Register

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