An 80-year-old woman died when a pleasure boat capsized and sank in choppy waters off Florida Keys.
 
There were eight people aboard the vessel when it got into trouble off the coast of Florida Keys on Saturday afternoon. The group managed to tread water for 20 hours before being rescued.
 
Onboard was a four-year-old girl, who was kept afloat by the passengers. “Our understanding is that they used something like a cooler to keep the girl above water,” said Petty Officer Second Class Nick Ameen.
 
They were rescued on Sunday morning after three boaters were found by a passer-by who alerted the Coast Guard. Four others were rescued an hour later when they were found drifting around four miles from the boat. The body of the elderly woman hasn’t been recovered.
 
According to the Coast Guard, not all of the passengers were wearing life jackets.
 
“Treading water just for one hour is challenging to say the least,” said Petty Officer Ameen, “but when the will to live kicks in, human beings can do amazing things.”
 
It’s the second fatal boating accident in Florida in the last week. On Saturday a man died in a separate boating accident during the Columbus Day regatta in Miami. 45-year-old Juan Carlos Morales from Miami-Dade fell overboard a luxury yacht and his body was dragged through the rotors.
 
It’s not known whether the bad weather on Saturday was responsible for both fatal accidents.
 
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