On Thursday, July 26th, Quang N. “Allen” Tran, 33, of Springfield, Virginia, and four companions were fishing in Oregon Inlet from the Herbert C. Bonner Bridge. Tran and his companions climbed over the protective railing onto the bridge’s catwalk and lowered themselves to the base of the pilings under the bridge, at which point Tran fell into the water. At the time, there was a moderate outgoing tidal flow. Two of Tran’s companions, Thuan Lai and Hoangfhu Nguyen, both of Fairfax, Virginia, jumped into the water in an attempt to rescue Tran. Tran’s other two companions attempted to throw a rope and a styrofoam cooler to him, but with no success. All three were swept away from the bridge toward the ocean. Lai and Nguyen were both pulled from the water by individuals in a private fishing boat. Tran was last seen floating about 200 yards east of the bridge before he was lost from sight. Lai and Nguyen were transported by a North Carolina Marine Patrol vessel to U.S. Coast Guard Rescue Station Oregon Inlet, where both were treated by Dare County EMS for minor injuries and released. Search operations were conducted until dark on the 26th and again until noon the following day, when active search operations were suspended. Periodic checks of area beaches and waterways continued through early Sunday afternoon, when the body of a man resembling Tran was found 13 miles off the coast by individuals on a private vessel.
