Delta Boating Accident: 4 Presumed Dead, One Arrested

A 14-foot boat with 10 passengers capsized in the middle of the night. Six of the passengers managed to survive, one was arrested, being under suspicion of manslaughter and other four were believed to be dead.

According to the San Jose Mercury News, rescue crews found Sunday the bodies of two men. The other two men were thought to be dead. The accident happened in a delta canal, near Tracy. The aluminum fishing boat sank because its capacity was exceeded and it had too much weight to carry.

Authorities arrested Daniel Martinez Cordova, 43, the boat’s captain, and he was in custody at the San Joaquin County jail with a $400,000 bail. He faces criminal charges. Officials said that the passengers said they had alcohol on board and they were not wearing any life preservers.

The accident happened around midnight and the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Department was called around 1 a.m. Sunday. Six of the passengers, including the boat’s operator, managed to swim to shore. The Cost Guard then went to search the rest of the passengers. Sheriff’s Deputy Les Garcia said that rescue crews found only the bodies of two men. The other two were presumed dead.

Garcia also said that the boat’s capacity was “far exceeded” and it quickly began to sink, reported the San Jose Mercury News. A boat like this one has a limit of six passengers. And the fact that the passengers, who were all from Oakland, consumed alcohol and didn’t take any safety measures, made the situation much worse, leading to a tragedy.