A pleasure boat with five people on board capsized in Martinique this Thursday.
The accident occurred in Galion Bay, between Pointe Rouge and Pointe Banane.
According to France Antilles, the five victims are men, aged 20 to 40 and from the town of Robert.
Emergency services were alerted at 2:30 p.m.
The Antilles-Guyana Regional Operational Surveillance and Rescue Center immediately set up a major search system including a gendarmerie helicopter, two speedboats - from the SNSM and the gendarmerie nautical brigade -, as well as “nautical means of the fire and rescue service,” indicates the prefecture in a press release.
[PRESS RELEASE] Search and rescue operations at sea
This Thursday, January 18 at 2:30 p.m., the #CROSS Antilles-Guyane was informed that 5 people fell overboard in Galion Bay, between Pointe Rouge and Pointe Banane .
Find the press release 👇 pic.twitter.com/EUY3Zl0r5U
— Prefect of Martinique (@Prefet972) January 18, 2024
Two people were rescued in the afternoon by a vessel in the area.
One was hospitalized and another, “in a state of shock”, returned home, indicates La 1ère.
Three others remained untraceable late Thursday afternoon.
“Priority is given to operations before sunset,” the prefecture indicated on Thursday.
The cause of the accident is currently unknown.
The search is expected to resume this Friday morning if weather conditions permit.