ASHTABULA — The Coast Guard He went to the rescue of five personas who were found clinging to a freezer in the Lago Erie after his boat was overwhelmed by a wave off the coast of Ohio, authorities reported.
The 22-foot (6.7-meter) vessel was about 10 miles (16 kilometers) off Ashtabula on Saturday when it was hit by the wave, a Coast Guard spokesman said.
Someone called 911 and stayed on the phone with rescuers while a Coast Guard helicopter came from a base in Detroit, leaving another rescue to reach them.
The helicopter crew lifted the five victims, who were not injured, to an airport in Jefferson, Ohio. Authorities stressed that all of the people were wearing life jackets and emphasized the importance of everyone on a boat wearing them.
The helicopter then refueled and returned to the initial rescue site in the waters off the Perry nuclear power plant in North Perry, Ohio. Rescuers there pulled two people wearing life jackets from the water, as well as another person who later died.
Authorities also launched a search for a fourth person who could not be located, but that search was suspended Saturday night.
Source: With information from AP