CLEARWATER, Fla. — A recreational boat, characterized as a yacht, hit a ferry, tearing through the watercraft, then left the scene of the incident in Clearwater, Florida, officials said.
The “mass casualty incident” happened during what officials called a “chaotic scene,” Clearwater police spokesperson Rob Shaw told Bay 9 News, according to CNN.
The ferry was taking families to and from a sand sculpting competition, WFTS reported.
At the time of the collision, about 45 people, including two crewmembers, were on board the vessel.
An eyewitness described what happened.
Brenda Alvarez told WFTS that the other boat “shattered the whole back of” the ferry and “left a huge dent.”
“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 Alvarez and their two children, told WFTS, according to The Associated Press. “And we looked back behind us and this big yacht just came through the boat.”
Alvarez is 31 weeks pregnant and went to the hospital to make sure the baby was OK. Her husband told WFTS that a doctor said his wife and baby were not injured.
The ferry stopped on a sandbar, allowing some passengers to walk to shore, but Shaw said some good Samaritans had to use their own boats to evacuate passengers from the damaged ferry. Firefighters were also in the water helping people.
The U.S. Coast Guard said that one person died and 12 others were taken to an area hospital. Everyone was accounted for and all of the injured came from the ferry.
#Update 1 person is reported deceased and 12 people were transported to a local hospital. @MyFWC is leading the investigation into the cause of the collision. #SAR
— USCGSoutheast (@USCGSoutheast) April 28, 2025
Police did not release much information about the boat that hit the ferry, other than officials saying it was identified by another law enforcement agency, Fox News reported.
As of Monday morning, officials did not say who owned the boat or who was operating it at the time of the crash, WTVT reported.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is the lead agency in the investigation, ABC News reported.
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