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TILLAMOOK, Ore. - At least nine people are dead after a charter fishing boat carrying 19 people capsized as it sailed out of Tillamook Bay Saturday morning, Tillamook County Sheriff's officials said.
Rescuers continued searching for one person, the Coast Guard said.
Eight people were brought, cold and in shock, to the emergency room at Tillamook County General Hospital, said nursing supervisor Heather Scovell.
"They're cold, in shock, getting fluids," she said. The seven men and one woman suffered from hypothermia, needed oxygen because of near drowning and had small lacerations, she said.
"They hit a wave wrong and the boat capsized, that's what I was told," Scovell said.
Those at the hospital ranged in age from 13 to 48, and some were members of a family, she said.
The have since been released.
The 32-foot Taki Tooo capsized in 15-foot breaking surf as it sailed out of Tillamook Bay at 7:18 a.m., according to U.S. Coast Guard Cmdr. Patrick Brennan.
At the time the boat went out, there was a "small craft advisory for hazardous seas" in effect, according to KGW meteorologist Bruce Sussman. He said the system that created Friday's rain stirred up the ocean, making conditions hazardous along the Oregon Coast.
The Coast Guard dispatched three helicopters and two 47-foot lifeboats to search the choppy water at the mouth of the bay near the north jetty, he said.
One helicopter was later called away because the search grid was too small to accommodate all three aircraft, Brennan said.
The wrecked boat has since washed ashore near or on the jetty, Brennan said.
The Coast Guard will continue searching for four to eight hours, the length of time a person could survive in the about 50 degree Pacific Ocean water, Brennan said.
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