San Jose Man Dies After Fishing Boat Crashes Into Rocks Beneath Golden Gate Bridge

A 35-year-old San Jose man has died after a recreational fishing boat carrying three people struck rocks and began to capsize beneath the Golden Gate Bridge in a tragic early-morning accident.

Daniel Zhengyu Qin was one of three people aboard the vessel when it ran into trouble near Lime Point on the Marin County side of the Golden Gate Bridge shortly after 6 a.m. on September 17, 2026. The boat struck rocks near the bridge’s north tower and began rolling over.

The U.S. Coast Guard received a distress notification at about 6:08 a.m. and arrived roughly five minutes later. When rescuers reached the scene, two of the boaters were already in the water while the third remained aboard the vessel, which was pinned between rocks and in the process of capsizing. All three were wearing life jackets.

Multiple agencies immediately joined the rescue effort, including the Coast Guard, San Francisco Police Department’s Marine Unit, Southern Marin Fire Protection District, San Francisco Fire Department and Sausalito Fire Department. The three victims were brought to the Marin County shoreline, where paramedics provided emergency treatment before they were transported to a hospital.

All three initially suffered life-threatening injuries. Qin was critically injured and later died at the hospital despite prolonged resuscitation efforts and emergency treatment. The other two people survived but were hospitalized with serious injuries.

The accident occurred in the early morning while visibility was somewhat restricted by fog. Coast Guard officials said conditions were otherwise fairly typical and could not immediately determine whether the boat was traveling into or out of the bay.

The exact circumstances that caused the fishing boat to strike the rocks remain under investigation. The San Francisco Police Department’s Major Accident Investigation Team responded to the scene, while the Coast Guard and Marin County Sheriff’s Office are also involved in the investigation. A forensic postmortem examination and routine toxicology testing were scheduled as part of the investigation into Qin’s death.

Qin’s death has left behind a grieving family. A fundraiser created for his family identified him as a software engineer, husband and father of three young children. According to the campaign, Qin and his wife, Yao Deng, had an 11-year-old son and two daughters, ages 9 and 3. The fundraiser was established to help with funeral expenses, the children’s needs and other emergency costs fo

Source: NY Post