Coast Guard air and boat crews rescued one woman and recovered a man’s body after their 15-foot paddle boat was reportedly beset by weather off the shores of Burien Sunday morning, Jan. 21. “I am told the male was from Burien, and the female from Vashon,” Sgt. Cindi West of the King County Sheriff’s Office told The B-Town Blog. The Coast Guard says that the paddle boat capsized near Three Tree Point, but the rescue operation was near Seahurst Park. An MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew from Air Station Port Angeles, along with a Station Seattle rescue boat crew aboard a 45-foot Response Boat-Medium responded to the incident and transferred both mariners to local Emergency Medical Service personnel. Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound watchstanders received initial notification from King County Dispatch at 2:53 a.m., reporting two individuals aboard a paddleboat potentially beset by weather. Sector personnel established communication with the mariners via cell phone and reported hearing a loud scream before losing connection. Once on scene, the Coast Guard aircrew discovered the capsized vessel near Seahurst Park. At 4:51 a.m., the aircrew located an unresponsive female in the water and vectored in the boat crew to rescue her. The crew transported her to the Fauntleroy Ferry dock where a local EMS crew was waiting. At 5:02 a.m., a male was recovered by the helicopter crew and transported to Boeing airfield where he was pronounced dead by a local EMS crew at 5:38 a.m. The female is reportedly in critical condition and is being treated at Harborview Medical Center.

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