A devastating boating accident in the waters between Brooklyn and Staten Island left four people dead, one injured, and another missing on Sunday afternoon, authorities confirmed.

The vessel capsized around noon in the Ambrose Channel — New York City’s main shipping lane — prompting a frantic multi-agency rescue effort, according to the NYPD.

Per ABC News, five of the six people aboard were pulled from the freezing water, but four were found unresponsive. Police say all the individuals involved were men.

Emergency responders transported the victims to local medical facilities.

Two were airlifted to Staten Island Hospital, while three were taken to Coast Guard Station Sandy Hook for urgent treatment.

Despite the efforts of rescue teams and medical staff, three people were initially tragically been pronounced dead.

CBS New York has since reported that family members have confirmed a fourth person has died as a result of the tragedy.

The fifth person remains in a stable condition, police say.

Family of Victim Speak Out

The family of 50-year-old Cecilio Adames told CBS News New York’s Naveen Dhaliwal that he and his friends had set out on a fishing trip, before the tragedy claimed his life.

"I called him at 10 o’clock in the morning and asked, ‘Everything OK?’ He said, ‘It’s a lot of wind. Everything is dangerous.’ I told him, ‘Thank God you didn’t bring my daughter,’ because she sometimes went with him. He said, ‘No, it’s far away, like 25 miles.’ And then, disappeared," his wife, Francisca Adames, recalled.

Loved ones described Cecilio as the backbone of their family.

"He’s that man, and everybody will remember him as that man. Because he always risked his life trying to help other people," said his daughter, Alisha Adames.

Credit: Google Maps

The U.S. Coast Guard, NYPD, FDNY, and New Jersey State Police are continuing a search-and-rescue operation for the missing individual, but freezing water temperatures have raised concerns about the individual's survival chances.

The Coast Guard deployed three rescue boats and an MH-65 helicopter to aid in the effort, concentrating their search about five miles southeast of Breezy Point, Queens.

Officials have not yet released details about the victims, the type of vessel involved, or the circumstances leading up to the tragic incident.

The incident took place in the Ambrose Channel between Brooklyn and Staten Island. Credit: Roy Rochlin/Getty Images

The investigation remains ongoing.

Our thoughts go out to every person impacted by this tragedy.

Featured image credit: CBSNewsNewYork/YouTube

A man who survived a horror incident on board a tourist boat has revealed how he managed to escape when the vessel capsized in a sudden storm.

According to reports, at least 35 people were killed when the boat capsized, including eight children that had been on board, as a further eight people remain missing.

The Wonder Sea had set sail with 49 tourists and five crew members on board for three-hour excursion when it was hit by an unexpected heavy storm at around 1.30PM on Saturday.

The vessel, which had been on a sightseeing tour of Ha Long Bay, Vietnam, overturned after heavy rain and wind pummelled the boat, VNExpress reported.

An onlooker told AFP, as reported by the New York Post, that the storm had come on suddenly, with the sky instantly turning dark with torrential rain and "hailstones as big as toes,” as well as thunder and lightning.

An immediate rescue operation was launched after the boat capsized, with border guards, navy units, police and port authorities deployed along with 27 boats and two rescue vessels.

Rescue teams were able to save 11 people - one of whom later died in hospital - and recovered 35 bodies, eight of which were children, as efforts continue to locate those that remain missing.

One of the survivors - Dang Anh Tuan, a 36-year-old fire extinguisher salesman - revealed that the storm set in quickly, darkening the sky and bringing with it pouring rain and high winds.

He told the Associated Press that passengers had asked the crew to turn back but they responded that they were almost at their destination and kept the boat moving forward.

Tuan told the outlet: "It rained for about 15 minutes, and then the boat started to shake vigorously, tables and chairs were jostled around and seconds later the boat overturned. Water gushed in and I lost all orientation."

Revealing how he managed to survive, Tuan explained: "I tried to breathe. But more water came in. I took a deep breath, got rid of my life vest and dove down.

"I saw a streak of light and followed it to swim out, escaping the boat, and then I climbed on the overturned boat to look for help."

Tuan and several others survived by clinging to the capsized boat and its propellers as they waited around two hours for the rain to stop and rescuers to arrive.

The Wonder Sea was later seen being towed to a shipyard with most of its windows shattered and damage to the roof and handrails as an investigation is set to begin, per the New York Post.

Local reports stated that all of the passengers on board were Vietnamese, with most of them being tourists from Hanoi. Around 20 of those on board are believed to have been children.

Tuan was on holiday with 11 of his friends but only three of whom have survived.

He revealed that while he had suffered only minor cuts, one of his friends had sustained multiple injuries to his head, while the other had cut tendons from the broken glass as he escaped from the boat through a smashed window.

The other nine members of the group were tragically killed, including one who was traveling with his wife and three-year-old son, who also died.

Our thoughts remain with all those affected by this tragedy.

Featured image credit: Vietnam's Traffic Police Department / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images

A tourist boat carrying 53 people has capsized, killing 34 people including eight children that had been on board, as a further eight people remain missing.

The Wonder Sea had 49 tourists and five crew members on board when it was hit by a heavy storm at around 1.30PM on Saturday.

The vessel, which had been on a sightseeing tour of Ha Long Bay, Vietnam, overturned after being rocked by heavy rain and wind, VNExpress reported.

An onlooker told AFP, as reported by the New York Post, that the storm had come on suddenly, with the sky instantly turning dark as torrential rain pummelled down, with "hailstones as big as toes” as well as thunder and lightning.

An immediate rescue operation was launched after the boat capsized, with border guards, navy units, police and port authorities deployed along with 27 boats and two rescue vessels.

Rescue teams were able to save 11 people and recovered 34 bodies - eight of which were children - and efforts are continuing to locate those that remain missing.

According to reports, there were over 20 children on board at the time of the incident, including.a 10-year-old boy who was rescued from the water.

The boy, who is in hospital in a stable condition after having suffered multiple injuries, told VietnamNET: "I took a deep breath, swam through a gap, dived, then swam up.

"I even shouted for help, then I was pulled up by a boat with soldiers."

All of the passengers on board are reportedly Vietnamese and included visitors from the capital of Hanoi, with the vessel having capsized near Dua Go Cave, a main landmark in the tourist hotspot.

According to local reports, the youngest passenger on board was just three years old, while the eldest was 54.

A 14-year-old passenger also survived the incident after being trapped inside the sunken cabin of the hull for four hours.

Bui Cong Hoan, deputy head of the Ha Long Cruise Ship Association told VNExpress: "Although the ship had overturned and the cabin doors were locked, there was still an air pocket about 50-60 cm [20-24 inches] wide.

"Enough for oxygen to get in, so the boy survived."

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh shared his condolences in the wake of the tragedy, and called for public safety officials to conduct an urgent search and rescue.

A government statement added that authorities will investigate the cause of the accident and "strictly handle violations".

Heavy rain has been complicating efforts to search for any remaining survivors, per the BBC.

The tropical storm, Wipha, is the third typhoon to hit the South China Sea this year, and is expected to hit Vietnam’s northern coast early next week. 

Our thoughts remain with those affected by this tragedy.

Featured image credit: Vietnam's Traffic Police Department / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images

Five people have died and only one has survived after a helicopter went down in New York's East River on Sunday. According to authorities, the pilot of the helicopter is the sole survivor of the accident.

Three of the passengers were taken to hospital with critical injuries after they initially survived the accident, but the New York City Fire Department confirmed that they had died in hospital. FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro said that the sixth person, the pilot, had managed to free himself from the wreck and was rescued. He has now been taken to hospital for observation.

"One of the most difficult parts of the rescue were that five people were tightly harnessed," Nigro said. "People had to be cut out."

Authorities say that the aircraft had been hired from Liberty Helicopters for a private photo shoot. In an audio recording of a mayday call to LaGuardia Airport, the pilot of the helicopter can be heard saying that it was experiencing engine failure.

According to Liberty Helicopters, they are "the largest and most experienced helicopter sightseeing and charter service in New York City".

The company say that they own "a fleet of 10 state-of-the-art Airbus helicopters (formerly American Eurocopter)," according to the website. "We have been in business and flying safely for over 30 years," they say.

According to WABC-TV, this is the company's third crash in 11 years. In August 2009, nine people were killed after a helicopter and a small, private plane crashed into each other over the Hudson River. According to investigators at the time, the helicopter was flying too high.

Two years prior to that, in July 2007, a sightseeing aircraft carrying eight people dropped into the Hudson River. Fortunately, in this case, no one died - as an off-duty paramedic helped everyone escape.

The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed that the helicopter went down at 7 pm in the river near Roosevelt Island. The FAA also identified the chopper as a Eurocopter AS350.

The helicopter was found upside down and submerged by emergency responders. Police then called for a barge with a crane on it in order to pull it out of the water.

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The reason behind the crash isn't known, but Gary C. Robb, an aviation attorney based in Kansas City, Missouri, said that the National Transportation Safety Board will be looking at three things: the pilot's training, experience and immediate response during the crash; what on the helicopter may have caused the crash; and what environmental factors may have contributed to the incident.

John J Magers filmed the crash and posted it on Twitter. He said that he thought something odd was going on when he saw to the chopper flying low before the crash.

"I saw it coming down toward the water. Thought it was unusual, but didn't expect it to crash," Magers told CNN over Instagram. "My thoughts are with those killed."

Our thoughts are with all those affected by the crash.

A hunt is on for six missing people after one person was found dead following a luxury yacht capsizing off the coast of Sicily.

The 160-foot luxury boat called the 'Bayesian' had 22 people on board - 12 of whom were passengers and 10 crew members - when it was hit by a violent storm at sunrise.

The yacht, which sails under the British flag, sank off the port of Porticello, the Italian Coast Guard said, leaving six people missing.

Among those unaccounted for are four Britons, two Americans, and one Canadian passenger, according to reports from the Guardian.

One person was found dead, while the remaining 15 people on board were rescued from the wreck, including the captain of the ship, an Italian Coast Guard spokesperson told CNN.

Eight of the people rescued, including a one-year-old child, were taken to local hospitals and all are in a stable condition according to Italian media.

A source told CNN that British tech tycoon Mike Lynch, the founder of software giant Autonomy, was among the passengers on board who is reportedly missing.

The yacht had been hit by a tornado at around 5AM on Monday while it was anchored about half a mile from the port of Porticello, according to a spokesperson for Italy’s Coast Guard.

The European Severe Weather Database reported that a small waterspout, one of several types of tornadoes, had developed over the area on Monday morning, while other strong storms brought torrential rainfall across Sicily late on Sunday, dumping more than 4 inches (100 mm) of rain in less than four hours in Brolo, east of Palermo.

The Italian fire brigade told press in a statement that divers had reached the yacht's hull 49 meters (160 feet) below sea level and had also dispatched helicopters to help with the search.

One of the passengers on board, a 35-year-old woman called Charlotte, told reporters, as cited by Italian news agency ANSA that she had battled to hold on to her one-year-old daughter Sofia, as the boat sank.

She reportedly said: "In two seconds I lost the baby in the sea, then I immediately hugged her again amidst the fury of the waves. I held her tightly, close to me, while the sea was stormy. Many were screaming."

The captain of a boat moored near the Bayesian told reporters, as cited by Reuters, that he had turned his engine on to avoid crashing into the yacht during the fierce storm.

He added: "This morning we got this strong gust and we had to start the engine to keep the ship in an angled position. After the storm was over, we noticed that the ship behind us was gone."

The Bayesian had left the Sicilian port of Milazzo on August 14 and was last tracked east of Palermo on Sunday evening with the status of "at anchor", according to vessel tracking app Vesselfinder.

Featured image credit: Vincenzo Pepe/Getty Images