Florida boat collision leaves one dead and at least 10 people injured
A recreational boat crashed into a ferry transporting 45 people on the final day of a sand-sculpting festival in Florida, killing one person and injuring at least 10 others, officials said.
The crash late on Sunday in calm waters off Clearwater on the western Florida coast set off an emergency response due to the high number of possible casualties.
Video of the accident released by law enforcement on Monday at a news conference showed the recreational vehicle ploughing into the ferry.
'We were just enjoying the ride and all of a sudden we heard the first mate yelling, 'Hey hey hey,'' Marco Vacheco, who was on the ferry with Brenda Alvarez and their two young children, told TV station WFTS. 'And we looked back behind us and this big yacht just came through the boat.'
First responders gather on a beach near where the Memorial Causeway Bridge in Clearwater after the crash (Douglas R Clifford/Tampa Bay Times/AP)
The operator of the recreational boat was co-operating with authorities, and a breathalyser test showed no alcohol impairment, officials said. The recreational boat stayed in the accident area for a short time; officers encountered it about 3.5 miles away. Officers with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission were working with the State Attorney's Office to determine if any charges would be filed, officials said.
Emergency dispatchers answering 911 calls from the accident scene heard 'horrific screaming' in the background, said Clearwater Police Chief Eric Gandy.
The injured passengers had broken bones, soft-tissue injuries and head injuries, said Tony Tedesco, EMS chief for Clearwater Fire Rescue.
All of those injured were adults aboard the ferry.
Rescue workers gather at the Seminole boat ramp north of the crash scene (Douglas R Clifford/Tampa Bay Times/AP)
'When our crews first arrived, they found themselves in the water trying to rescue people,' Mr Tedesco said. 'On top of that, they're trying to figure out who was the most injured.'
The ferry came to rest on a sandbar just south of the Memorial Causeway bridge.
'You never expect any of this to happen,' Brenda Alvarez said. 'We can't understand how fast they were going, like how that is even logically possible that they hit and were able to get off like that.'
The family was not injured in the crash.
The US Coast Guard said in a social media post that on-scene reports indicated that all 45 people on the ferry and all six people on the boat were accounted for.
'All local hospitals have been notified. Multiple trauma alerts have been called with helicopters transporting two of the more seriously injured,' the post said.
Investigators search the wreckage of the Clearwater Ferry after the crash (Douglas R Clifford/Tampa Bay Times/AP)
Videos on social media showed several first responders rushing to the scene with lights flashing. Several Good Samaritans also helped the ferry passengers get to safety, officials said.
Sunday was the last day of the Sugar Sand Festival, a 17-day sand-sculpting festival in Clearwater Beach.
The Coast Guard said the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission will lead the investigation into the cause of the crash.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Examiner
10 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
National Guard arrives in LA on Trump's orders to quell immigration protests
National Guard troops began arriving in Los Angeles on Sunday on orders from President Donald Trump, in response to clashes in recent days between federal immigration authorities and protesters seeking to block them from carrying out deportations. Members of California's National Guard were seen mobilising at the federal complex in central Los Angeles that includes the Metropolitan Detention Centre, one of several sites that have seen confrontations involving hundreds of people in last two days. The troops included members of the 79th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, according to a social media post from the Department of Defence that showed dozens of National Guard members with long guns and an armoured vehicle. Mr Trump has said he is deploying 2,000 California National Guard troops to Los Angeles to quell the protests, which he called 'a form of rebellion'. The deployment was limited to a small area in central Los Angeles. The protests have been relatively small and limited to that area. The rest of the city of four million people is largely unaffected. Their arrival follows clashes near a Home Depot in the heavily Latino city of Paramount, south of Los Angeles. As protesters sought to block Border Patrol vehicles, some hurling rocks and chunks of cement, federal agents unleashed tear gas, flash-bang explosives and pepper balls. A protester throws a rock while surrounded by tear gas from law enforcement during a demonstration in Paramount on Saturday (Eric Thayer/AP) Tensions were high after a series of sweeps by immigration authorities the previous day, as the weeklong tally of immigrant arrests in the city climbed past 100. A prominent union leader was arrested while protesting and accused of impeding law enforcement. On Sunday, homeland security secretary Kristi Noem said the National Guard would 'keep peace and allow people to be able to protest but also to keep law and order'. In a signal of the administration's aggressive approach, defence secretary Pete Hegseth also threatened to deploy active-duty marines 'if violence continues' in the region. Police detain a man during a protest in Paramount (Eric Thayer/AP) The move came over the objections of governor Gavin Newsom, marking the first time in decades that a state's national guard was activated without a request from its governor, according to the Brennan Centre for Justice. Mr Newsom, a Democrat, said Mr Trump's decision to call in the National Guard was 'purposefully inflammatory'. He described Mr Hegseth's threat to deploy marines on American soil as 'deranged behaviour'. Mr Trump's order came after clashes in Paramount and neighbouring Compton, where a car was set on fire. Protests continued into the evening in Paramount, with several hundred demonstrators gathered near a doughnut shop, and authorities holding up barbed wire to keep the crowd back. Crowds also gathered again outside federal buildings in central Los Angeles, including a detention centre, where police declared an unlawful assembly and began to arrest people.
The Irish Sun
a day ago
- The Irish Sun
Killer, 34, murdered and dismembered student, 19, on first date after ‘watching Netflix series showing mutilation'
A 34-YEAR-OLD man murdered and dismembered a college student, 19, on the first date after allegedly watching a Netflix series showing mutilation. Maxwell Anderson was convicted of homicide and dismembering a corpse on Friday for the heinous murder of Sade Robinson last year. 10 Sade was brutally murdered Credit: FB/Sade Robinson 10 Sade was on a first date with Anderson Credit: FB/sade robinson 10 Maxwell Anderson is led into the courtroom for his initial appearance in April 2024 Credit: AP The two had met at a bar and spent the rest of their evening getting dinner and drinks at the Twisted Fisherman in Milwaukee. Teen Sade then went back to Anderson's apartment where, at one point in the night, the alleged killer put on Netflix show Love, Death & Robots . One episode of the series called "The Drowned Giant" portrays the horrific mutilation of a human body on the beach. In a chilling similarity, prosecutors have claimed that monster Anderson dismembered Sade's body on a beach in Wisconsin overlooking Lake Michigan. Juror Melissa Blascoe told the "I physically felt like I was gonna throw up at that point. I know a lot of people were shaking and crying." Anderson was also charged with arson and hiding a corpse in connection with Sade's death. He was found guilty on all counts. Most read in The US Sun Cops said it's believed Anderson spread the 19-year-old's remains across Milwaukee County and burned her car in an attempt to hide key evidence. Surveillance footage showed Sade's car leaving Anderson's apartment in the early hours of April 2. Eerie new video shows 'killer' dad Travis Decker as cops fear 'expert' soldier won't be caught for MONTHS after murders It then arrived at the beach along the shores of Lake Michigan. When Sade didn't turn up for work the next day, concern was sparked on her whereabouts. The student's manager Justin Romano told CNN that she was "very outgoing, she would talk to everybody here." He added: "She was always there to lighten the mood." After Sade hadn't showed up for her shift - which "wasn't like her at all" - Justin added: "We kind of knew something was up. "We had been calling her all day." Anderson is thought to have dismembered Sade and set her car alight behind an abandoned building. He then took a bus back to is apartment. 10 Maxwell Anderson, right, with his defense attorney Anthony Cotton, left Credit: AP 10 The booking photo of Maxwell Anderson is seen as part of state exhibit in the trial of Anderson, center Credit: AP 10 A photo of the studio apartment of Sade Robinson was presented as part of the state's exhibit in the trial of Maxwell Anderson Credit: AP 10 Sade's grieving mom Sheena Scarbrough Credit: WISN 12 ABC Despite "extreme fire damage" to Sade's car, cops where able to identify the outfit the 19-year-old had been wearing on the night of the date alongside part of an iPhone consistent with hers, CNN reports. Cops had been called to Warnimont Park after a human leg was horrifically discovered, which was later identified as belonging to Sade. Anderson had planned to kill the student weeks before her death, a "confidential informant" claimed, Anderson's attorney Tony Cotton argued that the prosecution showed no evidence of his intention to kill Sade. The attorney also raised how Anderson didn't try to hide his identity as he travelled on public transport home and was also in clean clothes despite having allegedly dismembered Sade's body in a muddy location. Jurors reached their verdict in one hour on the ninth day of trial. Milwaukee County Assistant District Attorney Ian Vance-Curzan said: "While we are satisfied with this verdict, our hearts go out to the family of Sade Robinson." And Milwaukee County Sheriff's Det. JoAnn Donner - who had spent months working on the heartbreaking case - said: "My heart goes out to the family and [Sade's] friends and really, the community at large. "It's everyone's come together, and it's really hard to take that step back as a law enforcement officer and not get that really emotionally involved during the case. "I will admit that I did go back to my office after the verdict, and I had a good cry because I finally got to have that emotion. It does affect us too." Read more on the Irish Sun And Sade's grieving mom Sheena Scarbrough said in a GoFundMe set up for her daughter's memorial service that she was a "loving daughter, a cherished sister, and a dear friend to many". Anderson is to be sentenced on August 15, where he faces a mandatory life sentence in prison. 10 Prosecutor Ian Vance-Curzan holds up a jacket that had DNA in sections of the jacket from Maxwell Anderson and Sade Robinson while questioning state witness Sharon Polakowski Credit: AP 10 Sharon Polakowski, forensic scientist, senior DNA Analysis Unit from the Wisconsin State Crime Laboratory Milwaukee, testifies for the state on DNA found on clothing of Maxwell Anderson Credit: AP 10 Maxwell Anderson, center, responds to questions from Circuit Court Judge Laura Crivello after the state and defense both rest during his trial Credit: AP
Irish Examiner
a day ago
- Irish Examiner
Deadly Russian attack hits eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv
Russian attacks targeting the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv have killed at least four people and wounded more than two dozen others, officials said. The first wave on Ukraine's second-largest city was a large Russian drone-and-missile attack in the early hours. It killed at least three people and wounded 21 others, according to local officials. I received a report from our team on their visit and meetings in the United States. Defense support for Ukraine, sanctions against Russia, diplomatic prospects, as well as the defense of freedom and countering Russian disinformation. We gave our partners a detailed overview of… — Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) June 6, 2025 In the afternoon, Russia dropped aerial bombs on the city centre, killing at least one person and wounding five more, Kharkiv's mayor said. The warring sides also accused each other of trying to sabotage a planned prisoner exchange, nearly a week after Kyiv embarrassed the Kremlin with a surprise drone attack on military airfields deep inside Russia. Saturday's barrage – the latest in near daily widescale attacks on Ukraine – included aerial glide bombs that have become part of a fierce Russian onslaught in the all-out war, which began on February 24 2022. Ukraine's air force said that Russia struck with 215 missiles and drones overnight, and Ukrainian air defences shot down 87 drones and seven missiles. Russian strikes hit a residential building in Kharkiv (AP) Several other areas in Ukraine were also hit, including the regions of Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa, and the city of Ternopil, Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said in an X post. 'To put an end to Russia's killing and destruction, more pressure on Moscow is required, as are more steps to strengthen Ukraine,' he said. The Russian defence ministry said its forces carried out a night-time strike on Ukrainian military targets, including ammunition depots, drone assembly workshops, and weaponry repair stations. There was no comment from Moscow on the reports of casualties in Kharkiv. Kharkiv's mayor, Ihor Terekhov, said that the strikes also damaged 18 apartment buildings and 13 private homes. Mr Terekhov said that it was 'the most powerful attack' on the city since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion. At least four people were killed (AP) Kharkiv's regional governor, Oleh Syniehubov, said the morning's attacks saw two districts in the city struck with three missiles, five aerial glide bombs and 48 drones. Among the wounded were two children, a baby boy and a 14-year-old girl, he added. Six people are believed to be trapped under the rubble of an industrial facility in Kharkiv's Kyiv district, The Kharkiv prosecutor's office said in a statement on Telegram. Contact with those trapped was lost and rescue attempts have been ongoing since early afternoon, it said, without naming the facility. On Saturday afternoon, Russian aerial bombs struck Kharkiv again, killing at least one person and wounding five others, the mayor said. Today, rescue and emergency operations continued all day across various regions and cities of our country. Over 400 drones, more than 40 missiles were launched by the Russians. 80 people were injured, and some may still be under the debris. And unfortunately, not everyone in the… — Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) June 6, 2025 The morning strikes also wounded two people in the Dnipropetrovsk province further south, according to local governor Serhii Lysak. Meanwhile, Russia's defence ministry said that its forces shot down 36 Ukrainian drones overnight, over the country's south and west, including near the capital. Drone debris wounded two civilians in the suburbs of Moscow, governor Andrei Vorobyov reported. A US-led diplomatic push for a settlement has brought two rounds of direct peace talks between delegations from Russia and Ukraine, though the negotiations delivered no significant breakthroughs. But both sides remain far apart on their terms for an end to the fighting.
