Search and rescue vessels look for missing victims after a boat accident near Alcatraz Island off San Francisco, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Emergency crews responded to a pontoon boat that sank Tuesday afternoon in the waters off San Francisco while carrying mostly family members as part of a memorial service.
Rescuers arriving near Alcatraz Island, once an infamous federal prison and now a tourist destination, found the three-deck pontoon vessel almost fully submerged with the motor still running and leaking fuel. The search operation involved divers, helicopters and water vessels, authorities said.
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This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.
A California Highway Patrol helicopter flies along the Sausalito, Calif., shoreline as search and rescue operations continue after a Tuesday boat sinking on Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)Emergency crews gather at a dock near the site of a pontoon boat fire on Tuesday, July 14, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)A US Coast Guard vessel navigates the San Francisco Bay while assisting a boat that got stuck on Alcatraz Island’s underwater rocks on Wednesday, July 15, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)A helicopter flies past the Golden Gate Bridge while searching for missing victims after a boat accident near Alcatraz Island off San Francisco, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)With Alcatraz Island in the background, flowers float on the San Francisco Bay as search and rescue operations continue for missing victims of a Tuesday boat sinking on Wednesday, July 15, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)People cover themselves with American Red Cross blankets at Fort Mason, where the Red Cross has set up an assistance center for people impacted by a boat incident in the waters off San Francisco Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (Santiago Mejia/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)First responders search for missing victims after a boat accident near Alcatraz Island off San Francisco, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)A body is covered with a tarp on a dock near the site of boat accident on Tuesday, July 14, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)A police boat assists the vessel Fishin’ Mortician, stuck on Alcatraz Island’s underwater rocks, on Wednesday, July 15, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)A California Highway Patrol helicopter flies along the Sausalito, Calif. shoreline as search and rescue operations continue for victims of a Tuesday boat sinking on Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)Alcatraz Island is seen at sunrise in San Francisco, Wednesday, July 15, 2026, a day after a boat named Volare capsized in rough seas near the island. (Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
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