Authorities say a Coast Guard vessel overturned while assisting a fishing boat that ran aground in an inlet off New York City.
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Until they ended up in that water themselves.
The crew of the scallop fishing boat from NY called for help at 2 a.m. local time, when it got stuck in shallow waters amid six-foot seas and heavy fog at the entrance to East Rockaway Inlet, in the Queens Borough of NY.
Five Coast Guard crew members and seven fishermen escaped without serious injury during the incident off Queens early Thursday.
The five seamen aboard swam to shore near Beach 19th St., a Coast Guard spokesman said. Even though they were just a few feet from land, they could not get off easily.
The 74-foot Carolina Queen III ran aground off Rockaway Beach and Beach 59th Street, WABC reported. From there, they plucked up those on the fishing boat, lifted them airborne in a basket, and brought them back to shore.
The Coast Guard crew members were wearing protective gear. The rescue boat was about a quarter of a mile from the fishing vessel when it capsized.
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CNN’s Dominique Debucquoy-Dodley reported from NY, and CNN’s Greg Botelho reported and wrote from Atlanta.
