Updated at 11:12 a.m.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
The Coast Guard is working to recover a fishing boat off the coast near Willapa Bay which was carrying three Chehalis residents when it overturned and grounded.
One person is dead and two others are injured.
No names have been released.
Coast Guard Petty Officer Nathan Bradshaw said they received a report last night three recreational fisherman were overdue. The wife of one said they should have been home about 9 o’clock last night, he said.
They launched a search party at first light this morning by boat and by air, according to Bradshaw. A Jayhawk helicopter from Astoria located the 24-foot vessel near Leadbetter Point with three males onboard at 7:15 a.m., he said.
“Unfortunately one didn’t survive,” he said.
The two others were hoisted into the helicopter and transferred to ambulance personnel on the ground, he said. They were taken to a hospital in Aberdeen.
The third person has been recovered as well.
The boat had launched out of Tokeland, he said. It was overturned and grounded in a couple of feet of water, he said.
The cause of the accident is unknown, but the Coast Guard is looking into it.
Information about the conditions of the injured males was not available.
Bradshaw said he expects further details to be released later.
Thank you everyone for your prayers and concerns. Without your prayer we would not have made it out of there alive. It is by God’s grace alone that we made it home alive.
It takes a hell of a man to survive that long in those cold waters. I guess I’ll have to talk them into staying on the rivers.
Praying for the family involved in this accident…what a tragedy.