(CNN) Los Angeles County homicide detectives are investigating a boating incident off Catalina Island that left three men dead and four others hospitalized.

Authorities were notified Saturday morning after reports of a vessel in distress, the L.A. County Sheriff's Department said in a statement.

Emergency personnel confirmed a 15-foot boat had capsized in the water off Catalina's remote Salta Verde Point.

Three unidentified men were pronounced dead at the scene.

Four men who survived were transported to mainland hospitals - two are listed in critical condition and two others are in fair condition, according to the Sheriff's Department.

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