Two people died and three others were rescued Tuesday evening when a vessel overturned in frigid waters near an island in Alaska where Netflix’s survivalist reality show Outlast was filmed.
The United States Coast Guard and other agencies were called to the overturned vessel near Chichagof Island at around 4:48 p.m., the Coast Guard said in a statement. A helicopter arrived at the scene at around 5:15 p.m. and the three survivors were safely recovered from the water around 35 minutes later.
The water temperature at the scene was measured at 44 degrees, and air temperature at 31 degrees, the Coast Guard said, adding that all three people rescued were taken to EMS waiting for the returning chopper.
ADVERTISEMENT
Coast Guard cutters and an HC-130 plane from Air Station Kodiak tracked the vessel’s drift Tuesday night and searched the surrounding area for two missing people, authorities said. They weren’t found until the following day.
“Sitka Fire Department arrived on scene with Alaska Wildlife Troopers early Wednesday afternoon and deployed an unmanned underwater drone to find the two deceased individuals in the cabin of the vessel,” the Coast Guard said. “Recovery operations of the deceased people will commence once on-scene conditions improve.”
“It was with a heavy heart that we received news about the two people inside the cabin from our Sitka Fire Department search partners,” said Coast Guard Capt. Darwin Jensen, commander of Sector Southeast Alaska. “We send our support and strength to the family members at this time and thank our partner agencies for their assistance in this case.”
Chichagof Island is part of the Alexander Archipelago in the Alaskan panhandle. The island was used as a shooting location for the first series of Outlast, a reality show in which teams of survivalists compete for a $1 million prize by attempting to “outlast” the others in the wilderness.
