A crowded ferry with numerous festival attendees on board found itself stuck and damaged following a tragic hit-and-run collision on the water. The incident resulted in one fatality and left over a dozen people injured.
The Clearwater Ferry was taking passengers back from the final night of Florida’s 17-day Sugar Sand Festival when it was struck by a private boat.
The horror crash unfolded near the Memorial Causeway Bridge just after 10pm Sunday.
Frightening pictures depict the ferry stranded on a sandbar while emergency teams responded to the scene, announcing a state of emergency with a high number of casualties and hastening to rescue the terrified passengers.
Clearwater Police said the private boat fled the scene after the smash.
It was later located with six passengers on board, but nobody was injured.
Passenger Marco Vacheco recounted to local news source 10 Tampa Bay: “It was a large yacht, it struck us from the rear, seemingly coming through the area where the captain is positioned, leaving him trapped.”
His wife, Brenda Alvarez, hailed brave first responders who waded through shallow waters to rescue their children.
“Where we were, it was really shallow, so there was actually some paramedics that went out there and helped my children and I get off the boat,” she said.
All of those hurt were aboard the ferry, which was carrying 43 passengers and two crew members at the time of the collision.
Six passengers were declared “trauma patients,” with two of them airlifted to hospital by medical helicopters, police said.
