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Four people saved from a watery end in Lake Erie

Posted at 6:24 PM, May 17, 2016
and last updated 2016-05-17 18:26:00-04

The U.S. Coast Guard says its Buffalo-based crews helped rescue four people who were aboard two vessels that sank in rough conditions on Lake Erie.

Coast Guard officials say the Buffalo station received a mayday call around 3 a.m. Monday from a man aboard a 37-foot sailboat reporting he was taking on water off Point Abino in Ontario, Canada.

Canadian authorities dispatched two rescue vessels and a C-130 to the scene. The Buffalo crew arrived and found the man in a dingy after his boat sank. The man, who's a U.S. citizen, was taken to Buffalo.

Soon after, the Buffalo station received a distress call from a 42-foot yacht about 20 miles west of Long Point, Ontario. Canadian crews rescued the three people on board from the water after their yacht capsized in 6-foot waves.