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One Dead After Boat Capsizes in Lake Michigan Near Chicago, Unknown Number of Passengers Missing (UPDATE: Search Suspended for Night)
A woman is rescued from the South Side stretch of Lake Michigan, Sunday, June 1, 2014, after a boat she was in capsized Saturday night miles from Chicago's shoreline. The U.S. Coast Guard said crews are searching for as many as four other people. (AP Photo/Sun-Times Media, Alex Wroblewski) AP Photo/Sun-Times Media, Alex Wroblewski

One Dead After Boat Capsizes in Lake Michigan Near Chicago, Unknown Number of Passengers Missing (UPDATE: Search Suspended for Night)

"Apparently something happened really fast..."

Story from the Associated Press; curated by Dave Urbanski

UPDATE, 9:53 p.m.: CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago Fire Department said the search for people who were on a boat that capsized on Lake Michigan has been suspended for the night.

Original story below

CHICAGO (AP) — A woman on a boat that capsized miles from Chicago's shoreline died Sunday after being pulled from Lake Michigan, and the U.S. Coast Guard said crews were conducting an air and water search for as many as four other people.

A woman is rescued from the South Side stretch of Lake Michigan, Sunday, June 1, 2014, after a boat she was in capsized Saturday night miles from Chicago's shoreline. (Image source: AP/Sun-Times Media, Alex Wroblewski)

The Cook County medical examiner's office confirmed the woman's death Sunday afternoon, but had no other details. A fisherman pulled a man who had been on the boat from the lake around 6:15 a.m. Sunday. He was taken to a hospital in critical condition. Rescuers pulled the woman from the 60-degree water a few hours later.

It's not clear whether there were four or six people board the 30-foot boat that capsized about five to seven miles from shore Saturday night.

Coast Guard spokesman Petty Officer Levi Read said the rescued boater is in a "hypothermic state" and has given conflicting information.

"Because of his state, he's changed his story several times during questioning and while he was getting medical care," Read said. "As a precaution we're searching for more, rather than less."

[sharequote align="center"]"Apparently something happened really fast..."[/sharequote]

The boat was traveling between New Buffalo, Michigan, and the Chicago area.

"Apparently something happened really fast and they either didn't have a radio or their radio was broken," Read said.

Ron Dornecker, head of Chicago Fire Department Marine and Dive operations, said crews were searching for two of the boaters about six miles from the 31st Street Harbor.

"We're searching a very large area out there," Dornecker said. "When the people did enter the water last night, they were separated. It was nighttime. They could be, at this point, miles apart."

He warned that the boaters were in "very cold water," but said all who remain missing are believed to be wearing flotation devices.

The search includes helicopters and an airplane, as well as boats.

A WLS-TV report that preceded the announcement of the woman's death:

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