Police, fire crews aid four people struggling in small vessel in L.I. Sound

Four people and a dog were rescued Sunday afternoon in an approximately 10-foot aluminum vessel that was 1/2-mile north of Wading River Beach, according to Riverhead Town police.

A multi-coordinated response featured the Riverhead Dive team, the Wading River and Rocky Point fire departments and the U.S. Coast Guard. Police were notified shortly after 5 p.m. to the Wading River Beach area for a report “of several subjects that appeared to be struggling” in the small vessel in Long Island Sound, police said.

Police spotted the vessel and could see the people aboard were “struggling to make way due to the current and winds.”

Riverhead’s dive team and Rocky Point Fire Department’s marine units were first to reach the vessel and everyone was taken back safely to shore. No injuries were reported.

It was the second rescue in the area in a one week span. Four people were rescued when their inflatable raft began to drift out to sea late on the night of June 6.