THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 12, 1997 TAG: 9701120062
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE STONE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 48 lines
One man, clinging to a paddle, survived about 14 hours in the near-freezing waters of Currituck Sound after a small boat he was in capsized early Saturday. Two companions died and two others were still missing early today.
Petty Officer Brandon Brewer, a Coast Guard spokesman in Portsmouth, said the five were reported missing about 6:45 p.m. after they failed to return as scheduled from a duck-hunting trip to Monkey Island.
A large-scale air and water search was launched even as dark settled in, and was continuing early today.
The identities of all five hunters were being withheld until all relatives could be notified.
``The boat capsized just east of Monkey Island, but we don't know about how far off,'' Brewer said. Once the hunters were in the water, they were apparently unable to stay close together.
The survivor, who was plucked from the water by the crew of a Coast Guard helicopter at about 9 p.m., was flown directly to Albemarle Hospital in Elizabeth City. He was reported in stable condition by the helicopter rescue team, but his condition at the hospital was not known early today.
``He was suffering from extreme hypothermia,'' Brewer said. The Coast Guard said the water temperature in the area where the man was rescued was 40 degrees, and that the air temperature was 36 degrees.
It was not immediately clear how the man had survived for so long, or what he was wearing.
Brewer said the five had set out on the 6-mile trip from Coinjock to Monkey Island at about 5:30 a.m.
The survivor said the 17-foot Polar craft they were in swamped at about 7 a.m. Seas were running at 4 to 5 feet, with 30-mph winds.
The water where the craft went down was about 6 feet deep, Brewer said.
Only two of the five aboard were wearing safety vests. The man who was rescued was not.
About 9:30 p.m., the crew of a Coast Guard boat found the body of one of the hunters; and relatives of one of the five who joined the search in their own small boat found the second body.
Of the two missing people, one was in a life vest, and the other was not, Brewer said.
In addition to the Coast Guard, Currituck County authorities and state fish and wildlife officials were helping with the search.
KEYWORDS: ACCIDENT BOAT FATALITIES INJURIES