Family's Fishing Trip Shattered by Deadly Rogue Wave

A family of eight was enjoying an afternoon of fishing on the Southern California coast when three members were swept off rocks and into the sea. All three unidentified victims were pulled from the water before 5pm Thursday but ultimately died, Capt. Brian McGrath of the Ventura County Fire Department tells NBC News. The family had been fishing "near the notoriously slippery crags and small beaches between Point Mugu and Leo Carrillo state parks along Pacific Coast Highway" when a wave crashed in, sending the victims into the water, per the Los Angeles Times.

"When we got on scene … we were able to rescue all three out of the water. However, they were fatally injured," McGrath tells NBC. Ventura County Sheriff's Capt. Eric Buschow says all three were pronounced dead at the scene. "Unfortunately, it can be a dangerous place because it is very rocky and the beach and sand slopes straight down," he tells the Times of the scene, not far from the Ventura County-Los Angeles County line. "Things can look very calm one moment, but every once in a while you can have a large wave that can crash down upon you." (More Southern California stories.)