Ten people were rescued early Saturday after a boat overturned near the James River Bridge, the U.S. Coast Guard reports.
The 20-foot pleasure craft capsized around 3:45 a.m. off Morgarts Beach on the Isle of Wight County side of the river about 6 miles upstream from the bridge, the Coast Guard said.
A team in a 29-foot response boat from Coast Guard Station Portsmouth rescued two of the people from the water, while the Newport News Fire Department rescued the other eight, the Coast Guard said in a news release.
Two people were take to a hospital for minor scrapes, the Coast Guard said.
Virginia Marine Police charged the operator of the vessel with boating under the influence, the Coast Guard said.
“Boaters should always wear their life jackets and never operate a vessel under the influence,” said Lt. Brad Milliken, the command duty officer at Sector Hampton Roads command center, in the release. “While there were no reports of severe injuries in this incident, the outcomes in cases like this can be far worse, because not wearing life jackets and boating under the influence are the two leading factors in boating fatalities.”
