One person died, and three others remained missing Tuesday after a pontoon boat capsized near Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay.
The three-deck, 50-foot pontoon vessel sank about 600 yards from Alcatraz on Tuesday afternoon, authorities said. The vessel was carrying mostly family members who were taking part in a memorial service. Sixteen people were rescued from the water, the Associated Press reported.
Emergency crews responding shortly after 3:30 p.m. found the vessel almost completely submerged, with its motor still running and leaking fuel, according to San Francisco Fire Chief Dean Crispen. Authorities initially received reports of a fire aboard the vessel, but Crispen later said there was no evidence of a blaze.
Alcatraz Island, located just over a mile offshore from San Francisco, was once a notorious federal prison. It held several infamous prisoners, including gangsters Al Capone and George “Machine Gun” Kelly, before it was closed in 1963. The 22-acre island is now a major tourist attraction, pulling in more than 1.4 million visitors annually, according to the U.S. General Services Administration.
Authorities initially reported that two people were missing but later revised the figure to three after speaking with witnesses. By Tuesday evening, divers, helicopters, and rescue vessels were searching the open waters west of the Golden Gate Bridge, with officials saying the operation would continue overnight.
“Right now we are in full rescue mode,” Crispen said.
The U.S. Coast Guard said it continued to treat the operation as a rescue mission.
“The reports we’ve had from witnesses was that there were rough seas and the vessel began to take on water and was turned over in the bay,” Crispen told ABC7.
Longtime San Francisco Bay sailor Mike Peterson told ABC7 that such incidents are rare.
“It would take something happening very rapidly to cause a boat like that to go down and people like that to end up in the water,” Peterson said.
Former House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi said she was “heartbroken” by the incident. Pelosi represents California’s 11th congressional district, which includes most of San Francisco.
“My prayers are with the victims, their loved ones and everyone anxiously awaiting news,” Pelosi wrote on X. “Deeply grateful to the Coast Guard and first responders for their courage and tireless efforts as the search and rescue mission continues.”
