Exito sinking victim search called off

The U.S. Coast Guard has called off the search for two people who went missing Tuesday after their ship sank north of Unalaska.

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Coast Guard officials made the announcement Thursday after a cutter, a helicopter crew, and several volunteer vessels spent more than 40 hours looking for the crew members of the sunken boat Exito.

The ship went down late Tuesday night with five people on-board. Within an hour, three were rescued by a Good Samaritan vessel. But there’s been no sign of the two remaining crew members, whose identities have not been made public.

The Coast Guard is now investigating why the Exito began taking on water before it sank.

Officials say there’s no indication of pollution as result of the sinking.

Laura Kraegel covers Unalaska and the Aleutian Islands for KUCB . Originally from Chicago, she first came to Alaska to work at KNOM, reporting on Nome and the Bering Strait Region. (laura@kucb.org / 907.581.6700)

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