Monday, Jun. 23, 2008

2 found dead in delta boat sinking

Searchers believe two other men drowned

TRACY -- Two fishermen are dead and two others are believed to have drowned after an overloaded boat sank in the delta early Sunday, authorities said.

An aluminum skiff carrying 10 men sank overnight in a canal of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, San Joaquin County sheriff's spokesman Les Garcia said. All of the men are from the Bay Area, he said.

Garcia said six of the 10 people in the boat made it to shore. Witnesses said the others, all from Oakland, couldn't swim. None of them wore life jackets.

The boat's 43-year-old operator was arrested on suspicion of boating while intoxicated. His name is Daniel Cordova, according to the Tracy Press. He could face charges of vehicular manslaughter. Bail was set at $400,000.

Deputies arrived about 1 a.m. Sunday after people reported yelling and cries for help near Tracy Oasis Marina, Garcia said. Deputies and Coast Guard crews searched until late Sunday morning, then monitored the canal from shore. They resumed an active search later Sunday.

The boat was launched from the marina on the Grant Line Canal, north of Tracy, according to the Tracy Press. The boat has been found.

Late Sunday, deputies recovered the bodies of two of the men, the Sheriff's Department said. The search continues for the other two, according to The Record of Stockton. None of the men's names was released.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.