A boat sank in the Ambrose Channel near Staten Island on Sunday, killing three people and injuring two others while one person remains missing, officials said.
Authorities were alerted to a vessel taking on water near Breezy Point, Queens, just before 12:05 p.m., according to the U.S. Coast Guard.
The Coast Guard dispatched three rescue boats from Station New York and Station Sandy Hook, alongside a helicopter from Air Station Atlantic City for a frantic search.
Coast Guard rescue crews, along with the NYPD Aviation Unit and Sandy Hook Pilots, raced to the boat’s location, where five people were pulled from the channel, and the search for a missing sixth person was launched.
Four of those rescued were unresponsive, according to the Coast Guard.
Two of the victims were airlifted to Staten Island University Hospital, and three were taken to Coast Guard Station Sandy Hook, where emergency medical services were waiting.
Three of those who were on the boat could not be saved. One person was in critical condition later Sunday, and a fifth person was expected to survive, according to police. A search for the sixth victim continued.
The names of the victims who died were not immediately released.
The Coast Guard, the NYPD and other agencies on Sunday night were searching the waters about 5 miles southeast of Breezy Point for the missing boater, according to the Coast Guard.
The Ambrose Channel is the main shipping channel in and out of the Port of New York and New Jersey — and is part of the Lower New York Bay located several miles off the coasts of Sandy Hook, New Jersey and Breezy Point.