| ||
| ||
| ||
 |
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
10 killed in Staten Island ferry crashSources say captain went home and tried to commit suicide
NEW YORK (CNN) -- One of New York's famed Staten Island ferries slammed into a pier amid high winds Wednesday afternoon, killing at least 10 people and sending 34 to area hospitals, including one man whose leg was severed, authorities said. Afterward, the ferry's captain went home and tried to commit suicide, sources said. A spokesman for St. Vincent's Hospital said the captain, Richard Smith, remained in critical condition early Thursday. "He is out of surgery and has been admitted into a surgical intensive care unit," the spokesman, Jim McMahon, said shortly after midnight. "He'll be monitored very closely until such a time as he can be moved into a regular medical unit." Of the 22 patients at St. Vincent's Hospital, some had "massive trauma" and others had hypothermia because they had fallen or jumped into the water, according to a hospital spokesman. The ferry captain was one of three in critical condition there. "There were numerous injuries like fractures and lacerations," Fire Department spokeswoman Maria Lamberti told The Associated Press. "There were a couple of people with amputations -- legs and arms." At least 10 people were taken to Staten Island University Hospital, a surgeon there said. Law enforcement sources said police found the captain at his home, and a neighbor said an ambulance took him away on a stretcher. A local government source and a police source said the man tried to commit suicide by slitting his wrists and using a pellet or BB gun. The 310-foot-long orange ferry, which typically carries around 1,500 passengers, was docking at Staten Island when the accident happened about 3:20 p.m., a Coast Guard official said. The ferry struck a concrete pier surrounded by wooden pilings, which gashed the vessel's port side. As the ferry moved ahead, the pier continued ripping the steel and windows all the way to the rear of the ship. The accident left twisted steel, broken pilings and other debris over the vessel's main deck. (Gallery) "What apparently happened is people who were sitting there as the ferry docked were hit by the pilings that came through the side of the boat," Bloomberg said. Most of the people killed were seated in the main deck area, said Staten Island President James Molinaro. Passenger Robert Carroll described a scene of disaster and panic on the ferry's main deck, where he had been sitting, after the ferry hit the pilings. "The pillars broke off and ripped through the side of the boat, and literally began tearing out the entire side of the boat where people were standing, waiting to get off," Carroll told reporters. "We all jumped from our seats and began running for our lives in the middle of all this debris, and people screaming and falling over each other." After the boat stopped moving, passengers put on their lifejackets and ran upstairs, fearing the boat would take on water. Strangely, Carroll said, those on the upper decks were unaware of the disaster below them. "For them, it was just a bump," he said. "We started telling people to put on their lifejackets, and we stood on the back of the boat waiting to be rescued." Anthony Vaccaro, a passenger on the upper level of the ferry, said it approached the dock quickly. "It hit the piers. It didn't even stop. It just kept going," he said. "People were grabbing life jackets, people fell off, people fell in the water. There were people trapped underneath." T.J. Stiles, another passenger, said the ferry was going at a "pretty good clip" when he heard an "enormous crashing sound" and felt a sharp jolt. Everybody then began running toward the back of the boat to grab life jackets, he said. "The front of the pier was obviously crushed in, so we knew there was quite a collision," he said. "You could see a cloud of dust from the concrete being crushed in." Stiles said no announcements were made and no instructions were given. After the collision, the ferry backed up and a tugboat helped guide it into the docks, allowing the unhurt passengers to get off, he said. The boat remained afloat and was not damaged below the water line. Bloomberg said it did not leak any fuel. CNN producer Rose Arce, who was in another ferry following behind, described the damaged boat's approach to the St. George Ferry Terminal as erratic. "The boat wasn't running the straight course it usually does," she said. She said high winds caused large waves in New York harbor, and both vessels had trouble navigating a straight line between lower Manhattan and Staten Island. Arce said she was standing on the observation deck of her ferry along with tourists taking in the view of the New York skyline. "It was very, very hard to keep your balance while standing up," she said. "In fact, people were holding on to the side of the boat." A city official said the high winds may have been a factor in the accident. As of 3 p.m., winds at New York's LaGuardia Airport were measured at 31 mph with gusts up to 43 mph, the official said. Ferry service was suspended between Manhattan and Staten Island afterward, and city transportation officials advised those trying to reach Staten Island to take the subway to Brooklyn, where shuttle service would be available. The National Transportation Safety Board will send a team of investigators to the accident. All crew members were being interviewed and tested for drugs and alcohol "per the normal procedure," Bloomberg said. The Staten Island ferry service, run by the city of New York, operates 24 hours a day. On a typical weekday, five boats run between St. George Terminal on Staten Island and the Whitehall Terminal in lower Manhattan, with departures every half hour during the day and every 15 minutes at rush hours. About 70,000 passengers ride the ferries daily, according to the ferry service Web site. The ride takes about 25 minutes. It used to cost 50 cents but now is free for passengers. The boat in the accident is the Andrew J. Barberi, named for a former city councilman, officials said. Copyright 2003 CNN. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
