SAN DIEGO -- Two people died and seven were injured when a 35-foot sailboat capsized late Sunday afternoon in San Diego Bay.
The family sailing adventure took a tragic turn when the rented boat overturned near Buoy 22, throwing everyone onboard into the water. Authorities say two men, in their 50's or 60's drowned. The rest of the group, five adults and two children, were pulled to safety by nearby boaters and Harbor Police rescue boats.
"Unfortunately two men in their 50s or 60s drowned," said San Diego Fire-Rescue Department spokesman Maurice Luque.The names of the deceased men were withheld pending notification of next of kin.
"The Harbor Police brought all of the individuals who were all in the water over here to Shelter Island, where they triaged them," said Marguerite Elicone, of the Port of San Diego.
Dick Mills, along with scores of onlookers watched as Harbor Police brought in the victims to the Shelter Island Boat ramp, where fire and medical personnel worked quickly to treat them.
"It's very hard to think about," said Mills. "As soon as police came, they began to do CPR on them."
"They had both adults and children, and then all the commotion started," said onlooker Michael Barbosa.
"We responded with 50 firefighters with medical personnel and about 10 ambulances. We used about five of those ambulances to transport the survivors," said Luque.
The surviving children and adults were taken to UCSD Medical Center and Scripps Mercy Hospital. All are expected to fully recover.
"They were shaken, shivering -- maybe hypothermia. They had been in the water, but nothing serious," said Luque.
An eighth person later showed up at a hospital, claiming to have been on the boat, but it was unclear how she got there and what her injury was, Luque said, adding that Harbor police were handling the investigation.
"I pray for all of them and hope they recover quickly," said Mills.
Harbor Police is investigating the accident and trying to determine what caused the boat to capsize. As of Monday morning, there was speculation that the boat's keel was not deployed, allowing for winds to push the vessel over, according to Luque.
