BUFFALO, N.Y., - A U.S. Coast Guard patrol boat capsized early Saturday in the icy waters of Lake Ontario, leaving two crew members dead and two others injured, the Coast Guard said.
The two injured crew members were treated for hypothermia after the accident 3 miles northeast of the Niagara River along the U.S.-Canadian border, said spokesman Paul Roszkowski of the 9th Coast Guard district. They remained hospitalized in stable condition.
Rescuers found the four crew members floating in the lake shortly after midnight.
Petty Officer Scott Chism, 25, of Lakeside, California, and Seaman Chris Ferreby, 23, of Morristown, New Jersey, had suffered heart attacks. Efforts to revive them at the hospital failed, said Roszkowski, a petty officer first class.
A Coast Guard helicopter located the overturned and partially submerged 22-foot boat on shore 1 mile east of the Niagara River.
The cause of the accident was being investigated, Roszkowski said.
The crew members had begun a routine law enforcement patrol Friday evening. When they failed to check in to their Niagara station and did not respond to calls, local rescue units began a search.