CatalinaWaves

  CatalinaWaves

Three men were killed after their 22-foot boat capsized in stormy seas off Catalina Island, according to the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office, and two others were injured Sunday, with one transported to a Long Beach hospital.

According to a county fire department dispatcher, firefighters and paramedics were dispatched to the west side of Catalina at around 9:32AM Saturday after a witness reported that a skiff with seven people on board had overturned near Salta Verde Point, on the backside of the island.

Waves in the area were reported to be between four and six feet.

An altruistic individual rescued two people from the water and reported seeing another person on the rocks, while a Coast Guard helicopter crew rescued the person from the rocks, according to Sondra-Kay Kneen of the Coast Guard.

Two county fire rescue boats, Baywatch Isthmus and Baywatch Avalon recovered three bodies from the water and a Catalina Conservancy officer located the seventh person on the beach.

The three men were declared dead at the scene, according to detectives. The men were identified as Young Joon Park, 64, and Kyung Hwam Kim, 47, of Los Angeles, and Jason Jung Noh, 62, of Buena Park, according to the coroner’s office’s Captain John Kades.

The other two survivors were listed in critical condition. The Los Angeles County Fire Department transported the three other individuals to Los Angeles hospitals.

City News Service contributed to this report.