All injured individuals were on the ferry, according to the Clearwater Police Department.
Police said 45 people were on the ferry, including two crew members, including two crew members.
“A large-scale casualty case has been declared by the fire department due to the number of injured people. All local hospitals have been notified,” Clearwater PD wrote in X’s post Sunday night.
“In helicopters, where the helicopter transports two more severely injured, multiple trauma alerts are being called,” the Post continued.
The incident occurred near Memorial Causeway Bridge in Clearwater. Saint Petersburg, the Coast Guard sector, was notified about 8:40pm, the seventh Coast Guard district wrote to X.
The boat that hit the ferry escaped the scene, Clearwater PD said in a social media post Sunday night.
After the crash, the ferry rested at a sand bar just south of the bridge. The first responders and paramedics were then able to remove “all patients and passengers” from the ferry, police said.
“We were just enjoying the ride, and all of a sudden we hear our first buddy screaming, ‘Hey, hey, a bit,'” one passenger told Tampa’s ABC Affiliate WFT.
“We then turned around and this big yacht just passed through the boat,” said a passenger who was on the ferry with his two children and wife.
The Coast Guard says there were six people on the recreational boat. Authorities said it was later discovered by the responding agency.
“The boat that escaped the scene was identified by another law enforcement agency,” Clearwater PD said. However, details of the second vessel involved in the incident are not yet available.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Board is leading the crash investigation, police said.
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