The US Coast Guard is searching for five people after a fishing boat capsized in rough weather and seas near Alaska's capital of Juneau. The crew of the approximately 50-foot boat, the Wind Walker, sent a mayday call that the vessel was overturning around 12:10am Sunday, but the Coast Guard's attempts to get more information from the crew went unanswered, according to a Coast Guard press release. The Wind Walker is believed to have capsized in waters off Point Couverden, southwest of Juneau, the AP reports.
The crew of a ferry named the AMHS Hubbard overheard the broadcast and went to the scene first, with the Coast Guard launching an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter and a response boat, according to the press release. Seven cold-water immersion suits and two strobe lights were found in the water in the search area. Responders faced heavy snow, winds up to 60 mph, and 6-foot seas, with part of the region, which is located in the Gulf of Alaska, under a winter storm warning.
The Coast Guard said that people who know the crew of the Wind Walker, which originated just south of Point Couverden in Icy Strait, said there were five people aboard, but officials have not yet been able to confirm that number. Petty Officer John Hightower told KTUU late Sunday that the search would continue through the night. "We're exhausting all the all the available resources we have to try to find the crew members and anyone else who was on board and try to bring them home safely," he said. (More Alaska stories.)
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