Miraculous rescue after boat sinks off Miami coast; 4 fishermen saved
By ELITSA BIZIOS, CAROLINA BORGES
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MIAMI, Florida (WSVN) — A night of leisure and fishing turned into a stressful situation for four fishermen off the coast of Miami on Thursday night when their 27-foot boat sank. Miraculously, all four were rescued after facing the perils of the open sea.
Around 11:30 p.m. Thursday, the incident took a dramatic turn when two large waves flipped their boat, submerging them underwater.
One of the stranded fishermen shared his experience, stating that he swam for two hours in search of help.
“I found one gentleman with Miami-Dade Police — I think his name was Castillo — he helped me a lot,” said the rescued man. “He called the helicopters right away.”
Another survivor, who had spent about 40 minutes in the water, was located shortly after the initial contact with the police officer. However, two of the men remained missing for several hours.
Nicholas Digiacomo, a firefighter with Miami-Dade Fire Rescue, provided insights into the search and rescue efforts.
“We were searching just outside of Bear Cut,” Digiacomo explained. “One gentleman was recovered initially. He was swimming close to the vessel. One gentleman managed to swim onto shore, and we had two missing. Two, approximately 30-year-old males, still missing.”
The intensive search involved air rescue units from multiple jurisdictions, including Miami-Dade officers, City of Miami units, the U.S. Coast Guard, and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
The efforts finally paid off just before 2 a.m. on Friday when fast response teams heard people yelling in the water. The missing men, who had wisely been wearing life vests, were safely picked up and transported to Watson Island Marina.
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