CLEARWATER, Fla. (WSVN) — Rescue crews have airlifted at least two people to the hospital after a boat hit a ferry with over three dozen people on board off the coast of Clearwater and took off, police said.
Clearwater Police, Clearwater Fire & Rescue, and U.S. Coast Guard units responded to the scene of the crash off the Memorial Causeway bridge Sunday night.
“We do have multiple calls received,” said a dispatcher. “This is a boat versus a ferry.”
Investigators said there were about 45 people on board the Clearwater Ferry, and several of them were hurt.
Police said the boat that struck the ferry fled the scene, and the ferry came to rest on a sandbar just south of the bridge.
“We were just enjoying the ride, and all of a sudden, we hear the first mate yelling, ‘Hey, hey, hey,’ and we look back behind us, and this big yacht just came through the boat,” said a witness.
“We can’t understand how fast they were going,” said another witness. “Like, how is that even logically possible that they were able to just get off like that?”
Fire officials have declared the incident a “mass casualty event” due to the number of injuries.
Six people were rushed to area hospitals as trauma alerts, two of whom were airlifted. Officials have since confirmed the death of at least one person.
The Coast Guard and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission will be handling the investigation into the crash.
Please check back on WSVN.com and 7News for more details on this developing story.
Copyright 2025 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.