Firefighters, Coast Guard Rescue 3 Kayakers Near McCovey Cove
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- Three kayakers were rescued from San Francisco Bay Tuesday afternoon and were transported to a local hospital, a San Francisco fire dispatcher said.
The fire department received a call at 4:08 p.m. reporting several overturned kayaks near McCovey Cove, which is where the Bay meets Mission Creek near San Francisco's AT&T Park.
The fire dispatcher said at 4:45 p.m. that two of the victims had been located and that the Coast Guard was assisting with a search for the third.
A Coast Guard helicopter had spotted two people in the water and a small Coast Guard boat traveled to the scene to assist with the rescue, search and rescue controller Aaron Koffin said.
"We spotted them and confirmed it was the two persons," Koffin said. The two people pulled from the water were taken to "a safe haven" and were put in the care of the fire department, he said.
A good Samaritan called the Coast Guard at 4:05 p.m., Koffin said, and reported seeing a yellow kayak with two people in it overturn.
The witness told the Coast Guard that a second kayak attempted to help the distressed kayakers but was unable to do so, Koffin said.
It was unclear how the kayak overturned and where the kayakers were pulled from the water, but Koffin said no other recreational or commercial craft were involved.
The fire department had brought the kayakers ashore at 4:59 p.m. and, as of 5:10 p.m., had transported the three victims in two ambulances to a local hospital, according to fire dispatchers.
Information about their injuries or conditions was not immediately available.
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