One person was killed and several injured after a ferry carrying 45 passengers in Clearwater, Florida was struck by a boat which then fled the scene, local officials said.
The Clearwater Fire Department declared the crash on Sunday evening a “mass casualty incident” because of the number of people injured.
Police and fire services were at the scene and six patients “were declared as trauma alerts,” with two seriously wounded being transported by helicopter to hospitals, the City of Clearwater said in a post on X.
11:47 p.m. Final Update on Boat Crash: One person has died from injuries sustained in the crash. There were 45 people on board the ferry at the time, including two crew members. The boat that fled the scene has been identified by another law enforcement agency. The Florida Fish…
— City of Clearwater, FL (@MyClearwater) April 28, 2025
The boat that fled the scene near the city’s Memorial Causeway Bridge had been identified by another law enforcement agency, and an investigation was underway, it added.
“All of the injuries are from the ferry. The boat that struck the ferry fled the scene,” Clearwater Police Department 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,” police added.
The accident happened at the end of the 17-day Sugar Sand Festival on Sunday night and many people were taking the ferry back and forth for the festival, according to media reports.
An ABC News affiliate cited Clearwater Mayor Bruce Rector as saying the boat that collided with the ferry was privately owned.
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Featured photo source: EB Media Group
Source: Kanishka Singh – Reuters
