The U.S. Coast Guard has suspended its search for a man lost in the water when the boat he was working on overturned on the Potomac River.
The pontoon boat capsized Monday near the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Washington, D.C., with three construction workers on board. Two were pulled from the water, and one remains missing. The man was reported to be wearing a life jacket.
The Coast Guard launched a 29-foot response boat and a rescue helicopter to search the water, and D.C. Fire and EMS, Alexandria Fire Department, U.S. Park Police, D.C. Police Department, and D.C. Harbor Patrol all helped in the search, but the agencies suspended the search at 9 p.m. Monday.
“We put a lot effort into this search before deciding to suspend it,” said Cmdr. Sara Wallace, chief of response at Coast Guard Sector Maryland-National Capital Region. “The decision is always a difficult one to make.
The man’s presumed death would mark the sixth fatality on the Chesapeake Bay in 2018.
-Meg Walburn Viviano
