At least three people have died after a boat capsized off the coast of New York, police in the US have said.
Two others were injured after the vessel sent out a distress call from the Ambrose Channel just after noon on Sunday.
One person is in a critical condition and another is in a stable condition, NBC, Sky’s US partner, said.
Five people were rescued from the water after the New York Fire Department (FDNY), the New York Police Department (NYPD), and the US Coast Guard responded to the call for help.
The boat capsized in an area known as Breezy Point, NBC said, quoting the NYPD.
Breezy Point is “a neighbourhood at the tip of Queens’ Rockaway peninsula,” according to NBC New York, citing the US Coast Guard.
Six people were said to be in the water after the boat capsized, the FDNY said.
Two of the victims were airlifted to Staten Island University Hospital and three were taken to Coast Guard Station Sandy Hook, where its emergency medical crews were waiting to treat them, the agency said.
Four of the five people rescued from the sinking boat were unresponsive, and some of them were given CPR, the US Coast Guard said.
On Sunday night, it was still searching for one person missing in the water roughly five miles (8km) southeast of Breezy Point.
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Nothing else is known about the victims or what kind of boat was involved.
Police said it is not clear what happened but it did not appear the vessel collided with another boat. The US Coast Guard said it was notified of a “vessel taking on water” and described the boat as “sinking”.
An investigation is ongoing.
