A 40-foot vessel shipwrecked along the Long Beach breakwater amid an intensifying storm on Sunday, Feb. 4, leaving 19 people temporarily stranded off the coast, authorities said.
Around 2:50 p.m., a person aboard the ship sent a distress call after the mast on the vessel had broken off and stranded the vessel along the rocks of the breakwater, just east of the port, said Brian Fisk, a spokesperson for the Long Beach Fire Department.
Eleven of the people on board were able to extricate onto the breakwater and await rescue, Fisk said. Eight others were rescued from the vessel by first responders, aided by a good Samaritan aboard another boat.
One person had minor injuries but declined transport to the hospital.
Gale force winds and rough waves likely led to the mast breaking, Fisk said. The ship was recovered Sunday afternoon after the rescue.
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