by: Alaina Papazian, Ashley Suter
Posted: Apr 28, 2025 / 09:24 AM EDT
Updated: Apr 28, 2025 / 09:34 AM EDT
CLEARWATER, Fla. (WFLA) — One person has died and at least 12 people were injured following a hit-and-run boat crash involving the Clearwater Ferry in Clearwater, Florida, on Sunday.
The crash occurred at about 8:40 p.m. near the Memorial Causeway Bridge, the U.S. Coast Guard said Sunday night. Clearwater police, along with Clearwater Fire & Rescue, responded to the scene of the crash shortly afterward.
Clearwater police said the crash appeared to be a hit-and-run, caused by a recreational boat that struck the Clearwater Ferry and fled the scene. There were 45 people on the ferry when it was hit, the Coast Guard said.
The city of Clearwater, in a post on X, said six people were “declared as trauma alerts,” and two of them needed to be airlifted to a hospital. Officials confirmed at least a dozen injuries total, all among those on the ferry, the Associated Press reported.
One of the injured was confirmed dead a few hours after the crash.
“The fire department declared [the crash] a mass casualty incident because of the number and severity of injuries,” the city of Clearwater wrote in an update Sunday night.
Investigators told Nexstar’s WFLA on Sunday night that they had located the recreational boat involved in the incident, but gave few additional details. There were said to be six people on that boat at the time of the crash, the Coast Guard said.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is currently leading the crash investigation.
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