1 dead, multiple injured after boat collides with ferry and flees scene in Florida, police say

By Hanna Park, CNN

(CNN) — One person has died and multiple others were injured after a recreational boat collided with a ferry carrying 45 people in Clearwater, Florida, police told CNN.

The recreational boat fled the scene, but has been identified by another law enforcement agency, according to Rob Shaw, a public information officer for the Clearwater police.

Police said earlier that six people were declared as “trauma alerts,” two of whom were transported from the scene by helicopter and considered “seriously injured.” Shaw said one of the injured later died from injuries sustained in the collision.

“It’s been declared a mass casualty incident by the fire department due to the number of injuries,” police said.

Police were notified around 8:40 p.m. local time that a boat had struck the ferry near the Clearwater Memorial Causeway Bridge, according to police.

Responding officers arrived to find a “chaotic scene,” Shaw told CNN affiliate Bay News 9, with “good samaritans” using their boats to help evacuate passengers.

The ferry came to rest on a sandbar, so some were able to walk to shore, Shaw said, while “firefighters had to go into the water and help some people.”

Crowds of people were taking the ferry back and forth for the local Sugar Sand Festival, a sand sculpting competition that was wrapping up on Sunday, according to CNN affiliate WFTS.

Brenda Alvarez, who was on the ferry after going to the festival with her husband and their two young children, told WFTS that the other boat “shattered the whole back of the boat” and “left a huge dent.”

“We can’t understand how fast they were going,” she said.

Alvarez’s husband said they heard the first mate yelling, “hey, hey, hey” and then turned around to see a large boat “just come through” the ferry.

Alvarez, who is about eight months pregnant, said the family was headed to the hospital to get checked.

Authorities have released few details about the boat that hit the ferry.

“We believe our law enforcement partners are at another location with that boat,” police spokesperson Shaw told WFTS, while urging any witnesses to come forward with more information or video of the crash.

Six people were believed to be on the boat, the United States Coast Guard said, citing on-scene reports. Crews from the Coast Guard’s Station Sand Key were among the agencies that responded to the collision.

Kristin Vincelli, who was also leaving the festival, shared video with CNN that shows emergency vehicles rushing toward the waterfront.

Everyone who was injured was on the ferry, police said. “It is not believed that there is anyone reported missing from the ferry,” Shaw told CNN.

Among the 45 people on board were two crew members, according to police.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission will be leading the investigation into the crash, Clearwater police said.

This story has been updated with additional information.

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CNN’s Michelle Watson and Sarah Dewberry contributed to this report.