Troopers identify two Savoonga men killed in capsizing near St. Lawrence Island

Two men from Savoonga died after their boat overturned near the village, Alaska State Troopers said, identifying them as Sidney Kulowiyi, 35, and Barton Rookok, 34, both of Savoonga. Next of kin have been notified.

Troopers were notified on Sept. 6 of three overdue boaters from the village. The U.S. Coast Guard began an aerial search and found one boater alive, holding onto the outside of an overturned boat. The other two were located in the same area, dead, according to a trooper dispatch posted Sept. 10.

The Coast Guard Arctic District said in a Sept. 8 update that an HC-130 Hercules crew found a person clinging to an overturned vessel about 4 miles east of St. Lawrence Island and rescued the survivor, a 15-year-old suffering from hypothermia. Coast Guard accounts differ on timing. The update lists Monday morning, while another account places the Air Station Kodiak aircrew's find at roughly 3 p.m. The good Samaritan vessel Northwest Explorer assisted. The two who did not survive were recovered from the water unresponsive and transported to Nome alongside the survivor. The Alaska Air National Guard's 176th Wing, including the 211th and 212th Rescue Squadrons, took part in the search, along with the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center and Alaska State Troopers. Rear Adm. Bob Little, commander of the Coast Guard's Arctic District, extended condolences to the families and thanked responding partners.

The trooper dispatch does not state what caused the boat to overturn or what conditions were on the water.

Alaska had the highest age-adjusted drowning rate in the country in 2021. State epidemiologists recorded 342 drowning deaths between 2016 and 2021, an average of 7.8 per 100,000 residents.