A ferry packed with commuters slammed into a pier in New York on Wednesday, killing at least 10 people and causing horrific injuries as the side of the vessel was peeled open by pilings lining the dock.
"This is a terrible tragedy ... people on their way home all of a sudden taken from us," New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said from the scene of the accident on the Staten Island shoreline.
The precise cause of the crash was unclear, although eyewitnesses noted the windy conditions.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Bloomberg confirmed 10 dead with 34 passengers hospitalized, but added that the numbers could change given the seriousness of some of the injuries sustained by those on the main deck of the three-tier ferry Andrew J. Barbieri.
"People who were sitting there as the ferry docked were hit by the pilings that came through the side of the boat," the mayor said.
Fire department officials said some passengers lost limbs in the crash, which occurred around 3:30pm as the ferry was docking at Staten Island after making a regular 25-minute commuter trip from the southern tip of Manhattan.
Passengers said the ferry hit the dock at speed and pilings punctured the right side of the vessel, shattering windows and ripping open the outer structure.
"Everybody jumped for their lives," said commuter Bob Carroll.
"The whole side of the boat looked like a can opener had been taken to it. If I had been sitting on the right side of the boat, I'd have been dead. You could see some people were not going to make it."
Local television reported that the ship's pilot had attempted to commit suicide after the crash. Hospital officials confirmed that he had undergone surgery but refused to comment on the cause of his injuries.
According to the official Staten Island Ferry Web site, the vessel was commissioned in 1981.
It was not immediately clear exactly how many people were on board at the time of the crash, although an average trip usually carries around 1,500 commuters.
"I heard what sounded like an explosion and my first thought was that it was a bomb," said another passenger, retired police sergeant Paul Wiedemann.
"The structure of the boat was ripped open about half or three-quarters of the way down. It seemed that the boat didn't slow down and then the lower side appeared to cave in."
The New York weather office had issued a "wind warning" for Wednesday, with heavy gusts blowing across the city's waterways.
"There are clearly heavy winds out there, but whether they contributed to the accident it is too early to tell," Bloomberg said.
He said a full investigation has been launched.
Robert Dubicki, president of St. Vincent's hospital on Staten Island, said 22 people had been admitted, of whom half had since been discharged.
"We have three patients in our operating room right now," Dubicki said.
"We treated one patient for hypothermia but most of the injuries were blood trauma and penetrating trauma," he said.
A hotline was set up for those who believed family members might have been on the ferry, and some with missing relatives came down to the crash site.
"It's frightening. I don't know where she's at," said Tina Morrison, who thought her teen-age daughter was among the passengers. "I don't know what happened to her. She's not home."
New York Governor George Pataki described the crash as a "heartbreaking tragedy."
It was the worst accident in the ferry service's 98-year history. A similar incident in 1995 injured 18, but none died.
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese