CATALINA ISLAND, Calif., June 26 (UPI) — Three men were killed and four hospitalized after a 15-foot boat capsized off Catalina Island.
Seven men were aboard the boat when it was hit by big waves around 9:30 a.m. Saturday off Salta Verde Point on the “back side” of the island, said Spencer Parker, a spokesman with the Los Angeles County Fire Department.
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Emergency Services Detail, Air 5, the U.S. Coast Guard and Los Angeles County Fire Department personnel responded to the location, about 22 miles off the coast of Los Angeles.
When rescuers arrived, three men were dead. They were identified by the Los Angeles Coroner’s Office as Kyung Kim, 47, of Los Angeles, Jason Noh, 62, of Buena Park, and Young Park, 64, of Los Angeles, died in the incident.
Two survivors were pulled out of the water by someone from a charter vessel that had reported the boat had overturned, authorities said. Another victim was rescued from some rocks in the water by a Coast Guard helicopter. A Catalina Island Conservancy officer found another man on the beach.
Among the survivors, two were in fair condition and two in critical condition at a local hospital, Sheriff’s officials said.
“It’s not everyday that you see people up, floating, trying to swim, and then they go under and disappear,” an unidentified captain of a charter boat told KTLA TV.
The investigation is being handled by Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau, which is standard procedure in such incidents.
