Peninsula Daily News
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SAN FELIPE, Mexico — A person from Port Angeles was reportedly aboard a tourist fishing boat that capsized off the Baja California peninsula of Mexico early Sunday and was reported today.
One person was reported dead and seven others were missing among 27 U.S. tourists and 16 Mexican crew members when the boat capsized in rough seas in the Sea of Cortez in morning’s darkness.
Most of the tourists were from the San Francisco Bay area of California, but one is from Port Angeles, a U.S. Coast Guard spokesperson confirmed in Alameda, Calif., today for KOMO-TV of Seattle. The spokesperson, relaying information from the Mexican navy, didn’t have a name for the Port Angeles person.
The 27 tourists were aboard the 115-foot charter vessel Erik when a sudden storm struck the area about 2:30 a.m., hurling people into the ocean in the vicinity of San Luis Island, about 60 miles south of the Baja California port of San Felipe, the Mexican navy said in a statement. The body of water between the Baja California peninsula and the mainland is also known as the Gulf of California.
“The weather was calm, and then a strong wind came,” Dora Winkler, a spokeswoman with the Port of San Felipe, told the Los Angeles Times.
Some of the first people rescued — two tourists and the boat’s cook — were plucked from the water by a Mexican fishing boat, according to Winkler.
All of the 16 Mexican crew members were rescued, she said. The tourist who died was only identified as an adult male. Initial reports said six people were missing; officials later raised the number to seven.
A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter from San Diego was assisting the Mexican navy as rescue crews scoured the area for survivors, said Coast Guard Petty Officer Pamela Boehland in San Diego.
The Los Angeles Times reported that the Coast Guard was told by the Mexican navy that most of the passengers were from Northern California and that one was from Port Angeles. The search was launched after one of the victims swam to shore and alerted Mexican officials, Boehland said.
“He swam to shore and actually walked to the nearest location,” Boehland said, adding that she was unsure whether it was a town or village.
Mexican officials said all of the survivors were wearing life jackets. They were taken to local hospitals and appeared to be in good condition, the Mexican Navy said.
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KOMO-TV is a news partner of the Peninsula Daily News.
Do you know who might be the Port Angeles person who took a fishing trip with Northern California residents to northern Mexico? Please contact PDN reporter Arwyn Rice at arwin.rice@peninsuladailynews.com or at 360-417-3535.
