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6 People Rescued After Boat Capsizes South Of Rockaway Beach

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- It was a scary day off of Rockaway Beach on Saturday after a boat capsized.

The Coast Guard's New York Command Center received a Mayday call at 10:45 a.m. that six people were in the water after their vessel capsized.

Jones Beach Coast Guard Station Petty Officer 2nd Class Cory Nussbaum told WCBS 880 that a good Samaritan was the first to notice the boat overturned and that six passengers were already out of the water by the time the Coast Guard arrived.

New York City and Nassau County police assisted in the rescue. The New York Post reported that one man was unconscious and was taken by helicopter to a hospital. A Nassau County police boat took the other passengers to a hospital on Long Island.

Petty Officer Nussbaum said smaller vessels are more susceptible to fall conditions and more threatening circumstances, adding four of the people on board were wearing life jackets, including two children.

"It is hazardous being offshore sometimes, especially in a smaller boat. They were in a 25-foot boat and the seas were forecast as 3 to 4s," Nussbaum said.

The cause is under investigation.

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(TM and Copyright 2012 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2012 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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