3 killed in capsized boat off Catalina Island identified

Three men killed when their 22-foot boat capsized in rough seas off Catalina Island were identified Sunday by coroner’s officials.

Two other people were critically injured when their small skiff capsized on west side of the island at 9:32 a.m. Saturday, authorities said. They remain hospitalized.

The fatalities were identified as Young Joon Park, 64, and Kyung Hwam Kim, 47, both of Los Angeles, and Jason Jung Noh, 62, of Buena Park, said Capt. John Kades of the coroner’s office.

A witness reported that the skiff with seven people on board had overtued near Salta Verde Point on the back side of the island, Sondra-Kay Kneen of the U.S. Coast Guard said. Waves in the area were reported to be four to six feet.

A good Samaritan rescued two people from the water and reported seeing another person on the rocks. A Coast Guard helicopter crew rescued the person from the rocks, Kneen said.

Two county fire rescue boats, Baywatch Isthmus and Baywatch Avalon, recovered three bodies from the water, and a Catalina Island Conservancy officer located the seventh person on the beach, she said.

The three men were pronounced dead at the scene, detectives said.

The Coast Guard took one person to Long Beach Memorial Medical Center and Los Angeles County Fire Department paramedics took the other three people to hospitals, Kneen said.

Crew and passengers aboard an oveight fishing charter, the Pacific Quest, saw the boat capsize and the crew went to their aid, pulling four people from the ocean, according to published reports. KCAL9 reported they retued to the Long Beach Pier around 7 p.m. still visibly shaken.

Capt. Greg Obymako told KCAL9 the sight was heartbreaking.

“It was pretty horrific,” Obymako told the station. “It’s not every day that you see people, floating, trying to swim and they go under and disappear. It’s not something pretty. It’s not pretty to see dead bodies on backs of boats. ... It’s not something you wish on anybody or anything like that.”