Third girl, 10, dies in Miami boat crash at sailing camp as captains' toxicology reports are revealed

Daily Mail​

3 days ago

A 10-year-old girl has been identified as the third victim who died after a sailboat crashed into a massive barge in Miami.
Arielle Mazi Bucham died alongside two other girls, Erin Co, 13, and seven-year-old Mila Yankelevich, after their Miami Youth Sailing Foundation summer camp boat collided with a 60-foot barge around 11am Monday in Biscayne Bay.
Bucham's family's place of worship announced her passing Sunday morning, stating: 'With broken hearts, we announce the funeral service of our beloved Arielle Mazi Bucham.'
Arielle was one of the victims who was critically ill in hospital, but sadly succumbed to her injuries days later.
Her service is set to be held Sunday afternoon, CBS News reported.
News of the third victim's death comes just days after the boat captains' toxicology reports came back negative, the U.S. Coast Guard confirmed on Friday.
'I can confirm alcohol and drug testing was completed for both individuals onboard the tug and barge as well as the sailboat operator. All results were negative,' a spokesperson with the federal agency said.
Both Co and Yankelevich died from accidental drowning, according to the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner Department's report. Bucham's cause of death remains unclear.
After the two vessels collided in Biscayne Bay, the U.S. Coast Guard said the boat captains' toxicology reports came back negative
The three girls were among five children aboard the sunken sailboat. A 19-year-old camp counselor was also with them at the time.
Co and Yankelevich were pronounced dead while on their way to Ryder Trauma Center, per the Miami Herald.
Two others, Bucham and an eight-year-old, were taken to the hospital in critical condition. The unidentified counselor and other child, 12, walked away unharmed.
The eight-year-old's current condition remains unclear at this time.
The sailboat was part of the Miami Yacht Club's youth sailing program, but since the incident, the program has been suspended while authorities investigate.
The U.S. Coast Guard previously stated the barge was supporting construction work in the Miami Beach area before the fatal collision.
Capt. Frank Florio, Commander of Coast Guard Sector Miami said that the agency believes 'all of the girls were wearing life jackets' when the crash happened, based on interviews throughout the investigation.
Co was a student at San Pedro Nolasco School in Vitacura, Santiago, who recently moved to the US, the school said in a memorial post about her.
Her grieving father, Pil Jye Ko, told Local10 that Monday was his daughter's first day attending the sailing camp.
'I still remember when we dropped her off. She said, "See you later, mom and dad!",' Ko recalled as he cried.
'We hoped that this was all just a dream, or that a miracle would have happened,' he went on.
'That the hospital would call and say, "Your daughter is alive. She's alright." But no, that didn't happen. No, no, no. It's not what happened.'
He said his late daughter was attending Nautilus Middle School in Miami Beach and that she was fluent in three languages - English, Spanish and Korean. She was also learning how to speak Japanese.
'She was the perfect daughter. She was perfect,' Ko continued.
Yankelevich was the granddaughter of Cris Morena and Gustavo Yankelevich, two prominent Argentine producers.
Her father, Tomas Yankelevich, is also a producer and director, while her mother, Sofia Reca, is an actress in Argentina. The family lived in Surfside, Florida.
Yankelevich's grandmother called her 'my girl with wings, my happy and free little fairy,' in a now heartbreaking tribute she posted of her late granddaughter for her birthday in February.
She added in Spanish that their 'moments together [were] filled with dancing [and] songs' and said her granddaughter embodied 'the sun, freedom and hugs.'
One year prior, in another social media post, Morena called her granddaughter 'my cutest little girl in the world... My red heart, my everything.'
A witness at the scene told WSVN that a crane on the barge 'completely destroyed the boat' that day.
'The boat just went under and I heard a girl shouting for help under the crane,' the witness recounted.
Nine-year-old Enzo Pifer Eddy also told CBS News how 'all the kids went flying' in the aftermath.
According to the Coast Guard's navigation rules, sailboats generally have the right of way over motorboats, but must yield the right of way to a vessel that is 'restricted in its ability to maneuver.'
Determining whether a tugboat that was seen pushing the barge in the clash will now likely be a central focus for Coast Guard investigators.
They said at a news conference they will also be questioning the captain of the barge as they noted that 'the area was safe for sailing' at the time.
However, Miami Yacht Club member Katie Flood-Reiss told the Miami Herald that the sailboat's 19-year-old instructor would have had no chance of evading the barge in the bay.
'In those conditions, with almost no wind, it would have been impossible to turn that sailboat around quickly,' she explained.
The investigation could take several months to complete for officials to determine what caused the deadly crash.
Daily Mail contacted the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner Department and the U.S. Coast Guard for comment.