Boat That Sank Near Alcatraz Was Part of Memorial Service

The three-story cabin cruiser that capsized and sank in the waters near Alcatraz had been carrying 20 people for a memorial service, San Francisco Fire Department Chief Dean Crispen said at a Wednesday news conference. One person is dead and three remain missing after the 49-foot vessel ran into "rough seas" about 600 yards from the island before capsizing around 3:37pm.

Early reports of a fire were likely people seeing steam as the cold water hit the hot engine, San Francisco Fire Department Lt. Mariano Elias tells SF Gate. "When the police arrived, they said they saw one story, one upper deck with people around," Elias says. "People had jumped out of the boat itself." The boat rests roughly 120 feet down in the San Francisco Bay's shipping channel, complicating recovery, as the search for the missing continues.

Marine accident investigator Randell Sharpe tells the Los Angeles Times it's "really tough" to say why the boat capsized, noting the boat's size and the fact it did not appear to be over capacity. "It certainly was capable of operating in the San Francisco Bay in that area. The only way to know is to salvage the boat. It would take a lot to make a vessel that size tip over and sink."