1 killed, multiple injuries reported after boat hits Florida ferry
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Follow topic:
FLORIDA - At least one person was killed and other people injured on the night of April 27 when a boat struck a ferry with dozens of passengers near the Memorial Causeway Bridge in Clearwater, Florida, the authorities said.
The driver of the boat that hit the Clearwater Ferry, which was carrying 45 people, fled after the crash, said the Clearwater Police Department on social media. At least two people were taken to local hospitals by helicopter, police said.
Police and fire services were at the scene.
Clearwater Police Department said on social media that nearby hospitals were notified and “multiple trauma alerts” were issued, with helicopters transporting two of the more seriously injured people.
“The crash involved the Clearwater Ferry, which had more than 40 people on board,” police said, adding that the US Coast Guard will handle the probe into the incident.
“All of the injuries are from the ferry. The boat that struck the ferry fled the scene.”
An NBC News affiliate cited an alert from the city of Clearwater saying the crash happened late at night just west of the bridge.
“The ferry came to rest on a sandbar just south of the Memorial Causeway bridge. All patients and passengers have been removed,” police added.
The night of April 27 was the end of the 17-day Sugar Sand Festival, and many people were taking the ferry back and forth for the festival, media reports said.
An ABC News affiliate cited Clearwater Mayor Bruce Rector as saying that the boat that collided with the ferry was privately owned.
Officials called it a mass casualty event, but that does not necessarily mean there were deaths because injuries were also taken into account in that assessment.
“We’re working (on) a boat crash off the Memorial Causeway bridge that has resulted in multiple injuries. It’s been declared a mass casualty incident by the fire department due to the number of injuries,” said Clearwater Police Department in a statement on social media platform X. REUTERS
