A 58-foot fishing boat collided with a 20-foot skiff south of Petersburg, Alaska, Wednesday, reported the U.S. Coast Guard. A nearby boater saved one of the skiff’s two occupants, while the other died.

At 8:52 a.m., the larger vessel hit the skiff in the Wrangell Narrows between Green Rocks and Blind Slough. The force of the collision sent one of the people on board the smaller boat flying into the water.

“It sounds like the vessel, when they hit, it was a T-bone. … The vessel rolled over and ejected one individual,” Petersburg Emergency Services Director Aaron Hankins told Alaska Public Media.

The crew of the fishing boat, the Vis, tried to save the ejected person, who was not named before the good Samaritan boater, also unnamed by authorities, fished the victim out of the water. 

After reaching shore, the ejected person was treated at a hospital for minor injuries and hypothermia.

The Coast Guard and local agencies commenced a search for the second person on the skiff. After a few hours, a Petersburg Search and Rescue diver recovered the deceased, unnamed by authorities, from the sunken smaller boat.

Investigation into what caused the collision is ongoing.

• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.