Watch: Coast Guard rescues woman after boat capsizes in Columbia River
The Coast Guard received a call for help from the shore, noting that a boat had capsized and two people were in the water east of Tongue Point in Astoria, Oregon.
Coast Guard rescues boater after vessel capsizes in Columbia River
A woman was rescued, and a second person was found unconscious after a boat capsized in the Columbia River near Astoria, Oregon.
ASTORIA, Ore. – One person was rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard, but a second person was found unconscious after their boat capsized in the Columbia River on Sunday.
The Coast Guard received a call for help from the shore, noting that a boat had capsized and two people were in the water east of Tongue Point in Astoria, Oregon.
The Coast Guard launched a rescue helicopter and boat from nearby bases just a few miles away and arrived to find one woman had climbed atop a dashboard Chanel marker. Body camera footage on the rescue swimmer shows how he was lowered from the helicopter and swam to the channel marker to retrieve the woman and help hoist her back on board the chopper.
A woman is rescued after climbing up a navigation marker in the waters off Astoria, Oregon, after her boat capsized.
(U.S. Coast Guard / FOX Weather)
But the second victim was still missing, and it took search crews another 22 minutes to spot the victim floating unconscious in the waters.
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The rescue swimmer returned to the water and brought the victim to a nearby Coast Guard boat, then conducted CPR while the boat raced toward shore and awaited ambulances. Coast Guard officials reported the person remained unconscious when placed in the ambulance, but they did not have an update on the condition.
Meanwhile, the other rescued victim was flown to awaiting medics back at the Coast Guard Air Station in nearby Warrenton, where she was last reported with stable vital signs.
Coast Guard investigators didn’t say what might have caused the boat to capsize. Weather at the time of the incident was sunny, but with winds gusting to 20 to 25 mph, the National Weather Service had a Small Craft Advisory in effect.