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Good Samaritan Saves School Children from Sinking Boat

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WINGATE, Md. (AP) - Authorities say a good Samaritan rescued 22 people, including schoolchildren, after their boat sank in the Chesapeake Bay.

The U.S. Coast Guard said in a statement it received a distress alert Wednesday saying a boat had sunk off Bloodsworth Island.

The statement says boat and helicopter crews were launched but a good Samaritan arrived, took the boaters aboard and brought them to shore in Wingate, where they were transferred to EMS personnel.

A spokeswoman for the Maryland Natural Resources Police tells the Baltimore Sun the vessel was a charter boat filled with schoolchildren.

The Coast Guard says one person was airlifted to a hospital and an unknown number of others were taken by ambulance.

Lt j.g. Issac Yates says everyone was wearing a life preserver.

Don Rush is the News Director at Delmarva Public Media. An award-winning journalist, Don reports major local issues of the day, from sea level rise, to urban development, to the changing demographics of Delmarva.