4 Men Rescued After Boat Capsizes in Florida Waters: 'We're Blessed We're Alive'

Four men were rescued after a boat capsized off Virginia Key in Florida on Thursday night.Photo:A scene from Virginia Key

A scene from Virginia Key

In an email to PEOPLE on Friday, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue said that around 11:30 p.m. local time, the department, along with the U.S. Coast Guard and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Department, responded to an incident involving reports of a lost vessel near Arthur Lamb Jr. Road in Biscayne Bay.

“Upon arrival, Fireboat 73 (FB73) was dispatched to locate the lost vessel and encountered four boaters who were swimming to shore, while Air Rescue South (ARS) conducted an aerial search to locate the capsized vessel,” Miami-Dade Fire Rescue said in its statement.

“We were searching just outside of Bear Cut, one gentleman was recovered initially he was swimming close to the vessel, one managed to swim to shore, and we had two missing,” Miami-Dade Fire Rescue’s Nicholas DiGiacomo toldCBS affiliate WFOR.

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue added in its statement to PEOPLE that the four men were safely rescued and that there were no hospital transports.

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“The sea goes inside the boat, two big olas [waves], and they destroyed the boat,” Ray Duran, one of the four men who was rescued, told the station, adding, “The boat started to sink, everybody grabbed the life jacket, and we tried to go together to the sand.”

The rescue involved a number of boats and a chopper, theMiami Heraldreported, adding that Florida Fish and Wildlife is investigating the incident.

source: people.com