Two Die After Boat Sinks in Chesapeake Bay

POINT LOOKOUT, Md. — A charter fishing boat carrying 23 passengers took on water and sank Sunday in the Chesapeake Bay. At least two people died, authorities said.

Some passengers had to wait up to two hours before being plucked from the rough, 50-degree water.

A Coast Guard spokesman said a loose plank on the ship’s hull may have allowed water to gush inside.

One passenger died after being admitted to St. Mary’s Hospital in Leonardtown, Md., hospital spokeswoman Christine Wray said. Another passenger who was in full cardiac arrest when removed from the water was pronounced dead at the Patuxent Naval Air Station medical facility, said Harry Rhule, a spokesman for the state Department of Natural Resources.

The El Toro II sank about four miles from shore amid six-foot waves and winds up to 20 m.p.h.

Coast Guard rescuers found one person floating in open water, three sitting on top of the sinking boat’s cabin and 19 hanging onto a life raft, Coast Guard Petty Officer Joseph Callaghan said.