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Coast Guard: Most of passengers evacuated from stalled casino boat off Georgia coast

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — The Coast Guard says most of the passengers onboard a casino boat that ran aground off Georgia’s coast have been evacuated to a large cutter that will eventually return them to land.

Petty Officer 1st Class Lauren Jorgensen said Wednesday afternoon that the Coast Guard is continuing to transfer passengers. There are 96 passengers and 27 crew members about the Escapade. It ran aground overnight on rocks off Tybee Island, near Savannah and south of Hilton Head, South Carolina.

The Coast Guard says no injuries were reported.

Earlier, authorities said they tried several times to tow the Escapade, but tow lines broke.

Jorgensen says the initial report from the Escapade’s crew was about a malfunction of the chart plotter, part of the navigation system.

Florida-based Tradewinds Casino Cruise operates the Escapade and didn’t immediately respond to phone messages.

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