FORT MYERS BEACH, Fla. (WSVN) — Rough waves flipped a pontoon boat packed with people off the coast of Fort Myers Beach.
Lee County Sheriff’s Office deputies and a U.S. Coast Guard crew responded in rescue boats on Tuesday and found 11 people in the water.
Rescuers were able to gather everyone from the surf and bring them to shore near the Gateway Villas.
Steve Collins, who is visiting from Boston, said he did not have a water rescue on his agenda.
“It looked like an episode on TV that you’d see that a police boat was pulling over somebody,” he said. “There was nothing on the land, there was just water. There were at least four police boats but – there were four that were just circling around and around and around.”
Two of the passengers were taken to the hospital with minor injuries.
Deputies blamed rough waves and high winds for overturning the vessel.
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