4 hours ago
A 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 12 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.“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 WFTS. “And we looked back behind us and this big yacht just came through the boat.”The boat then fled the scene, authorities said.
The Clearwater police department posted on X that there were multiple injuries and the crash had been declared “a mass casualty incident” by the Clearwater fire & rescue department due to the number of injuries.
All of those injured were on board the ferry. Police did not provide any information about the person who died.
The ferry came to rest on a sandbar just south of the Memorial Causeway Bridge and all patients and passengers have been removed.
Police did not immediately provide any information about the boat that fled the scene.
Authorities did not immediately provide the number of those who were hurt.
“All local hospitals have been notified. Multiple trauma alerts have been called with helicopters transporting two of the more seriously injured,” the post said.
Videos on social media showed several first responders rushing to the scene with lights flashing.
Police cautioned drivers to avoid Memorial Causeway.
Sunday was the last day of the Sugar Sand Festival, a 17-day sand-sculpting festival in Clearwater Beach.
The US Coast Guard and Florida fish and wildlife conservation commission will investigate the crash.
