Two people were rescued from a disabled boat adrift on the upper Niagara River, just south of Goat Island late Sunday night.
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Coast Guard officials say they received a call just after 11pm by the operator that their 18-foot boat was disabled and adrift near the exclusion zone near Niagara Falls.
The U.S. Coast Guard and NY law enforcement agencies have helped their Canadian counterparts search for a man who remains missing after he fell into the Niagara River.
The boaters were instructed to drop anchor.
After receiving the Global Positioning System location, crews determined the boat was in the upper Niagara River and very close to the exclusion zone.
River control at the hydropower plant was contacted and the Niagara River water level was lowered, which grounded the vessel.
They eventually realized the anchors weren’t even holding; the boat was only being held in place by the lower unit of the engine, which was acting as an anchor.
Joining in the search were helicopters from the Erie County Sheriff’s Department, Niagara County Sheriff’s Department, U.S. Homeland Security, Rescue Co-ordination Center Trenton and Niagara Helicopters.
Coast Guard officials in Buffalo requested a helicopter be sent from its facility in Detroit, but State Park Police were able to successfully float a tow line to the vessel before that helicopter arrived.
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Both people were taken off the vessel safely, and the boat was towed to shore.
