Rescuers in Stamford, Connecticut, responded to a call for a distressed small boat in the waters near Shepan Point around 10:20 a.m. Sunday, the Stamford Fire Department said in a press release. The 12-foot boat was struggling to return to shore due to strong northeast winds and stormy seas, SFD said.
One of the men in the boat managed to call a relative from his mobile phone before the boat was swept away by the tide and wind, according to SFD. The first responders were delayed in finding the exact location of the boat due to conflicting reports about the last known location of the boat, the statement said.
Fire dispatchers eventually managed to use cellular tracking software to determine the last known location of one of the people who made the call from the boat, the statement said.
When rescue teams arrived at the site of the last cell phone ping, they found debris in the water they thought were from the boat. Amid 3 to 4-foot bumps, rescuers found the four men and brought them back ashore, SFD said.
All four were transported to local hospitals, where one was pronounced dead after “prolonged life-saving efforts,” the statement said. Another died later in the day, and the other two remained in critical condition, SFD said in a social media post Sunday afternoon.
Connecticut Energy and Environmental Protection Police are investigating the incident, according to the SFD.
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