rough surf hurricane bill
Robert F. Bukaty/Associated Press

A young girl died and nine people were hospitalized Sunday after a rogue wave from Hurricane Bill slammed into a viewing platform near the ocean at a park in Maine.

A group of about 20 people had gathered on the platform at Thunder Hole in Acadia National Park to watch the waves, which had been stirred up by the hurricane, when five of them were swept out to sea, the Coast Guard said. The spot is a popular tourist attraction, where waves crashing into a rugged granite crevice can create thundering reverberations and high salt sprays. The platform is 10 to 15 feet above the water line, and waves along the coast were running up to 12 feet during the afternoon, according to the Coast Guard.

"This is absolutely the effects of Hurricane Bill," Sonya Berger, a park ranger, told The Associated Press.

The wave hit about 12:03 p.m., the Coast Guard said. Spectators in the group pulled two people from the water, but three people, including the girl, had to be rescued by the Coast Guard.

Coast Guard officials said that the girl, 7, was unresponsive when she was pulled from the water at 5:20 p.m., about five hours after she was swept into the ocean.

The Associated Press said that the two other people rescued by the Coast Guard were a woman who appeared to have a broken leg, and a man who had a previous heart condition that appeared to be acting up.

Hurricane Bill, with maximum sustained winds of 75 miles per hour, was centered near eastern Nova Scotia and headed for Newfoundland at about 35 miles per hour Sunday night, the National Hurricane Center said in an advisory. The storm was expected to weaken by Monday, when it encounters cooler waters.

The hurricane is also blamed for a death in Florida - a 54-year-old swimmer who was found unconscious Saturday on the shore of New Smyrna Beach, northeast of Orlando. The authorities said the man, identified as Angel Rosa, of Orlando, became caught in rough waters caused by the hurricane.

Officials all along the East Coast of the United States issued warnings about rough surf and ordered beach restrictions as Hurricane Bill moved northward after raking Bermuda.

But the National Hurricane Center lifted the tropical storm warning for the Massachusetts coastline, including Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, early Sunday, and President Barack Obama and his family arrived on Cape Cod on Sunday afternoon for vacation after the storm had passed well to the east.