Two dead, five boaters missing after storm hits Alabama

At least two people are dead and five are missing after a powerful storm capsized several vessels off the Alabama coast, including sailboats participating in a regatta, Coast Guard officials said on Sunday.

One of the bodies of those killed was found on Sunday morning and the other was located the night before in or near the waters in Mobile Bay, where severe weather struck the Dauphin Island regatta on Saturday afternoon, said Coast Guard Captain Duke Walker.

"We're working our hardest, still, to bring those still missing back to their families," Walker told reporters.

Crews using rescue vessels and aircraft searched through the night for the missing people, covering 1,779 sq miles by Sunday morning, Coast Guard spokesman Carlos Vega said.

Only some of the boats that capsized in the storm were participating in the race, which included about 200 people and 100 vessels.

(Reporting by Victoria Cavaliere and Laila Kearney, editing by Rosalind Russell)