1 week Ago By The Telegraph
One person has died and several others have been injured after a boat struck a passenger ferry in Florida and fled the scene. Police and fire services declared a “mass casualty incident” in Clearwater on Sunday night, and there were “trauma alerts” for six patients, local authorities said in a post on X. All of those injured were aboard the ferry, which was carrying 45 people near the city’s Memorial Causeway Bridge.
Two seriously wounded people were taken to hospital by helicopter. Police did not provide any information about the person who died. Police said the boat that fled the scene had been identified by another law enforcement agency, and an investigation was underway.
“All of the injuries are from the ferry. The boat that struck the ferry fled the scene,” Clearwater police said on social media. “The ferry came to rest on a sandbar just south of the Memorial Causeway Bridge.
All patients and passengers have been removed,” they added. “All local hospitals have been notified. Multiple trauma alerts have been called with helicopters transporting two of the more seriously injured,” the post said.
The accident happened at the end of a 17-day sand sculpture festival on Sunday night and many people were taking the ferry back and forth, according to media reports. The US coast guard and the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission will investigate the crash..
