KEY BISCAYNE, FLA. (WSVN) - A boater has gone missing and several other people were injured after two boats collided near Key Biscayne.
Miami Fire Rescue units and several other agencies responded to the scene at Crandon Park Marina at 3050 Crandon Blvd., Monday night.
Investigators said the crash happened near Bear Cut just before 7:30 p.m.
A view from the Rickenbacker Causeway captured the aftermath of the violent collision that, officials said, involved eight people and sent one of them overboard.
Just after 11 p.m., 7News cameras captured a team of divers heading out to the spot where the vessels collided, one of at least three different trips since officials responded to the scene.
Cameras rolled on two boaters who seemed OK but didn’t want to talk, while another appeared uninjured and was talking to officials.
Three of the injured boaters were transported to Jackson Memorial Hospital.
Large scene at Crandon Park Marina after a boat collision off Key Biscayne, according to the Coast Guard. One person is missing. Others are injured and were taken to Jackson Hospital. @wsvn #7News pic.twitter.com/oohptlSBLU
— Sheldon Fox-7 News (@fox_sheldon) January 5, 2021
“We do have reports of one male that is missing,” said Miami Fire Rescue Lt. Pete Sanchez. “This gentleman was on board with the large party, the party of seven. The captain of the boat, single driver, has been accounted for, and he is not injured.”
Miami Fire Rescue said its part of a multi-agency search for the person who went overboard.
“Miami Fire Rescue Dive Team, along with FWC and Coast Guard and Miami-Dade, are conducting a search in a vantage point where they were given that they believe this male had gone overboard,” Sanchez said, “and they are in rescue mode attempting to find this victim.”
Boater Aileen Sanchez said she rode past the scene in the open water.
“We were coming back from fishing, and there was an open fishing boat that was completely collapsed to the side,” she said.
The witness then recorded cellphone video from a distance.
“All we saw was like the helicopter just like looking at the boat and, I guess, looking for someone,” she said.
FWC is the lead agency handling the investigation.
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