2024-01-05 15:12:13
Four men were rescued from the water near Virginia Key Beach early Friday morning following their boat capsized while they were out fishing Thursday night.
First responders said they received the call for assistance at approximately 11:30 p.m. City of Miami Fire Rescue personnel, along with members of the U.S. Coast Guard and marine patrol units, took part in the search for the men.
Nicholas DiGiacomo with the Miami-Dade County Fire Rescue Department said that one man was found swimming, while another managed to get to shore on his own, but the other two men who had been on the boat were missing.
“We were conducting searches with our air rescue units, as well as the other jurisdictions, and approximately just before 2 a.m., Fast Response heard people yelling in the water,” he said. “Thankfully, they were wearing life vests at the time, and we came over and picked them up. It was a good response.”
The men who were rescued said that they were on a boat, regarding 27-feet in length, to go fishing, when they noticed water coming in on the floor.
“We’re blessed we’re alive,” Alexis Jorge said, following being rescued by first responders. “The boat started to sink. Everyone jumped from the boat, grabbed the life jackets, and we started to go together toward the sand.”
Questions remain regarding what caused the boat to sink in the first place.
“Any time we can bring them home, and hand them off to their families at the docks, it’s a great feeling,” DiGiacomo said. “If we don’t, then the search goes on for a long time, and there’s usually a lot of very regrettable notifications [that] have to be made.”
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