A New York City commuter ferry crashed into a pier near Wall Street this morning, injuring at least 57 people, 2 of which are in critical condition.
According to authorities, the collision occurred at 8:43 a.m. Rescue workers rushed to the scene to attend to the 326 passengers and five crew members on board the vessel. Of those hurt, two sustained head injuries.
“People who were standing up flew because of the impact,” said passenger Brett Cebulash. “It was a normal morning, we were rolling into the dock and then they hit something. There was a sudden impact.”
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The ferry, owned by a New Jersey-based company known as Seastreak, hit Pier 11, leaving a gash in the starboard row roughly three feet above the water line. “Basically, it was a hard landing,” noted city commissioner of the Department of Transportation, Janet Sadik-Khan.
In accordance with the investigation into the crash, all five crew members will have to take a sobriety tests.
More than an hour after the incident, people were still being taken off the apparatus.
Seastreak has not yet released a statement on the matter and are referring inquiries to their lawyers, according to the Huffington Post.
Prior to today, the company’s most recent accident occurred in January of 2010 when a vessel hit pillings while trying to dock at a marina in New Jersey, leaving one person injured. “They have a pretty good record,” said Coast Guard spokesperson, Charles Rowe.
In 2003 a Staten Island Ferry crash killed 11 and injured 70. It was later revealed that the ferry driver—who served prison time for the incident— had been on painkillers the night before the crash.
See photos of today’s collision below.
Photos: AP/Getty/Reuters/EPA
