Tragic Ferry Accident in Florida: 1 Killed, 10 Hurt as Boat Hits from Behind

A recreational boat hit a ferry in Florida on Sunday evening, killing one person on board and hurting several others, according to cops and witnesses. The ferry was taking families home from a popular sand sculpting competition.

The ferry took people to and from the Sugar Sand Festival in Clearwater.

Clearwater Police and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission say the accident happened at 8:40 p.m. Sunday near the Clearwater Memorial Causeway Bridge. A 37-foot leisure boat carrying about six people hit the 40-foot ferry carrying about 45 people.

At a news conference on Monday, Clearwater Police Chief Eric Gandy said that the leisure boat “climbed over nearly three-quarters of the ferry.”

At first, Clearwater police said on X that the boat had “fled the scene,” but the state fish and wildlife commission says there is proof that the boat stayed at the scene for a while.

Gandy said that six of the 10 people who were hurt were taken to nearby hospitals as trauma alerts. According to Clearwater police, the fire department called it a “mass casualty incident” because so many people were hurt.

Jose Castro, 41, was from Palm Harbour, which is just a few miles north of Clearwater, and was the guy who died, according to Fla. Fish and Wildlife spokesperson Hailee Seely.

The names of those who were hurt have not been made public by the authorities.

It is being looked into by the US Coast Guard and Florida Fish and Wildlife. Police in Clearwater said that Fish and Wildlife will be in charge of the probe. Nicole Groll with the USCG says that since the ferry is a business vessel that needs to be inspected, it is under the control of the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard will make sure that the ferry is following the Code of Federal Regulations.

The family of Brenda Alvarez, who is about eight months pregnant, was on the ferry with their two young children, husband, and a crew member who started yelling, “Hey, hey, hey!”

He told her that when he turned around, he saw a big boat “just come through” the ferry.

She told WFTS that the other boat “shattered the whole back of” the ferry and “left a huge dent.” “We don’t get how fast they were going.”

Clearwater city spokesperson Rob Shaw told on Bay News 9 that when police arrived, they found a “chaotic scene.” “Good Samaritans” in the area used their own boats to help people get out of the area.

Some people on board were able to walk to shore after the boat came to a stop on a tiny island. Shaw said, “Firefighters had to go into the water and help some people.”

Kristin Vincelli, who was also leaving the festival, sent a video of emergency cars rushing to the water.

Florida Fish and Wildlife Captain Matthew Dallarosa says it’s not clear if the accident is being looked into as a hit-and-run because the leisure boat left the scene of the crash after some time.

According to what Dallarosa said on Monday, there is proof that the leisure boat did stay there for a while and then end up at the Belleair Boat Ramp.

Florida Fish and Wildlife says that people who were hurt in the crash were treated at a nearby different boat ramp.

The government hasn’t said much about the boat that hit the ferry yet. Seely said that as of Tuesday morning, no one had been arrested.