Footage reveals moment boat crashes into passenger ferry in fatal Clearwater collision
There were 45 people on board the 40-foot passenger ferry Sunday night when a 37-foot private vessel, with six passengers on board, plowed into the stern at around 8.40 p.m. local time. Jose Castro, 41, of Palm Harbor, Florida, has now been named by police as the passenger who died in the crash.
Police have also released video taken from a live webcam at Coachman Park along the waterfront, which shows the private boat heading straight toward the ferry while it travels eastbound in the channel. The video captures the boat striking the ferry from behind and landing across the majority of the vessel's stern.
'Mayday, mayday, mayday! There's been a boat collision. The Clearwater ferry, underneath the Clearwater Memorial Causeway. The Clearwater ferry is adrift,' a caller was heard stating to the U.S. Coast Guard in a newly released audio clip. Passengers on board the ferry had been returning from Clearwater Beach, where the Sugar Sand Festival was being held.
Clearwater Police Department chief Eric Gandy said at a press conference Monday evening that the boat 'overrode nearly three-quarters of the ferry' during the collision.
"Even before the first responders arrived on the scene, we knew we were dealing with a major situation,' Gandy said. 'Our 911 call takers could hear what they described as horrific screaming in the background."
Pictures of the wreckage following the incident revealed the extent of the damage.
'Both boats were fully entangled, and a large amount of damage resulted to the ferry boat as a result,' Major Evan Laskowski of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission explained.
With emergency workers arriving on the scene, EMS chief for Clearwater Fire Rescue Tony Tedesco said the 'mass casualty incident' became hard to manage because of the sheer number of casualties.
'We had great good samaritans who were bringing people in,' he said. 'So you could imagine being on scene with only a few personnel, and being inundated with probably 30-40 people at a time coming towards that basin, all on different boats... and us having to sift through that. It was definitely a challenge.'
Ten people sustained injuries in the crash, six of whom were listed as trauma alerts, and two were airlifted to hospital. BayCare Health System said all but one had since been treated and released.
Chief Gandy praised the 'life-saving efforts' of a ferry crew member who played a pivotal role in helping those on board the vessel.
The boat fled the scene after the crash, but Pinellas County Sheriff's Office officials tracked it down roughly three and a half miles south of the Clearwater Memorial Causeway Bridge, where the collision occurred.
The boat's driver is co-operating with the investigation being led by the U.S. Coast Guard and the FFWCC, authorities said. He voluntarily submitted to a breathalyzer test, police added, but no alcohol was found.
The officials offered their condolences to the family of Castro and said that more information would follow the investigation.
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