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5 rescued after 10-foot waves flip boat off North Carolina island, Coast Guard says

A Coast Guard boat crew aboard a 47-foot Motor Life Boat returns to its base in Ilwaco, Wash., after a training exercise was cancelled in 2018.
Petty Officer 1st Class Levi Read/U.S. Coast Guard District 13
A Coast Guard boat crew aboard a 47-foot Motor Life Boat returns to its base in Ilwaco, Wash., after a training exercise was cancelled in 2018.
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Five people were pulled from the water after their boat capsized off an island in North Carolina, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

Officials received a call Sunday, May 22, about a disabled boat that had run out of gas about 5 miles off Bald Head Island, Lt. Andrew Jacot told McClatchy News. The Coast Guard responded around 5 p.m. and began towing the boat from offshore into the Cape Fear River.

With five passengers on board, the boat was being pulled to safety when it was hit by “approximately 10-foot waves,” Jacot said. The boat then capsized, sending all five people into the water.

The Coast Guard’s “47-foot motor life boat broke the tow (with the disabled boat) and rescued all five individuals,” according to Jacot.

The passengers were evaluated by EMS and no injuries were reported, he said. Officials also recovered the capsized boat.

Bald Head Island is about 170 miles south of Raleigh.

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