The other 13 members of the boat returned safely to shore and were not injured.

At an earlier press conference, the head of the fire department said there were 19 people on the boat and the report received at 3:37 p.m. reported that a boat was on fire.

Later Tuesday night, he said witness accounts indicated there were 20 people on the boat, which was a 50-foot cabin cruiser.

He said there was no evidence of a fire when firefighters arrived at the ship, and witnesses reported that the sea was rough and that a ship began to take on water and capsized in the bay.

Stevedore Justin Marceline, who along with fisherman Mike Montoya helped rescue people from the ship, according to the Reuters news agency, said it was “total chaos when we showed up.”

“Every time we had to grab a person, every single one of them was either exhausted or frantic and flailing,” Marceline said.