Woman trapped in tangled fishing gear under capsized boat rescued

ByEyewitness News WABC logo
Monday, June 10, 2019
Video: Amazing rescue of woman from capsized boat on LI Sound
Derick Waller reports from outside the hospital on the water rescue.

LONG ISLAND, New York -- Police released amazing video of a rescue after a boat capsized on the Long Island Sound.

A woman got trapped underneath the boat and was tangled in fishing gear.

It happened Sunday around 5:30 p.m. First responders quickly rescued six people from the water near Sands Point, but an NYPD Aviation Unit helicopter had to be flown in to rescue the trapped woman, 46-year-old Rafelo Castro.

A chopper lowered two divers into the water, where they swam under the overturned boat and freed Castro. She was conscious and alert, thanks to an air pocket, but was in hypothermic shock.

"This is not just taking her from one side of the water to the other. She was in this cabin that was surrounded by debris," said Brian Mullen with the NYPD Scuba Team.

"It was pretty deep, so we couldn't see the bottom. So I just hovered below the window, two to three feet and then just grabbed her and brought her to the surface," said James Roche with the NYPD Scuba Team.

Castro was airlifted to North Shore University Hospital. Her condition is unknown.

The six other people who were thrown from the boat were also examined by doctors.