US3 min(s) read
Terrifying new details have emerged after a packed boat capsized in New York Harbor, killing a mom and baby.
The incident occurred just off Liberty Island, and had emergency services attempting to rescue 14 guests on the boat that flipped upside down.
It was believed that the boat, a 22-foot bowrider motorboat, originally got into trouble in New York Harbor around 10:25PM.
Up until now, it wasn't clear what caused the vessel to capsize - but now the reasons for the boat being on the water in the first place have been revealed.
It has now been established that the overcrowded motorboat was full of people celebrating a birthday that night.
The boat was chartered by Zeus Luxury for passenger Paula Rivera's surprise 41st birthday party, as revealed by her daughter to the New York Post.
The party started at around 7pm with guests getting on the boat. The plan for the party was to charter a sight-seeing voyage around the Statue of Liberty, which is sequestered on Liberty Island.
However, the boat - which was overcapacity and dangerously overcrowded - capsized hours later.
It was a mistake that would prove to be fatal to two passengers; 27-year old Sara Sanchez and her 5-month-old daughter Antonella Garcia, who both perished.
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Sara Raez is 20 years old and the daughter of Paula Rivera, whose 41st birthday was the reason for the gathering in New York Harbor.
As Raez describes it, the boat got into trouble as it travelled back from the sightseeing trip to the Statue of Liberty. The boat simply "flipped over" in seconds, she says.
"When we were heading back, we were slow, but out of nowhere, people started screaming because the front of the boat went into the water," she told the Post.
"The water got into the boat. The boat went up, and when it went down — it was in seconds — it flipped over."
All the passengers, she said, were "at the bottom of the boat," but managed to get out and into safety. However, it soon emerged that two passengers, Sarah Sanchez and her daughter Antonella, were not safe.
Eventually, she says, the survivors were able to hail a passing party boat to come to their aid.
It's since emerged that the boat they used, which had front-facing seating perfect for sightseeing, was packed with 14 people, when its seating capacity was supposed to be no more than 10, accoring to NYPD sources and online speculation.
Authorities are still investigating if the boat was operating as an illegal charter. It's captain, 46-year old Manuel Hernandez, has already been charged with 13 offences of reckless endangerment.
2 min(s) read
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us2 min(s) read
Two people. including a child, have died after a boat capsized in New York's Liberty Island.
The incident, in which over a dozen people had to be rescued, happened off the coast of Liberty Island in New York harbor, police said.
It's believed that a 22-foot bowrider motorboat flipped over into the water at around 10:25PM.
It wasn't clear what caused the boat to capsize.
14 people had to be pulled out of the water by emergency services after the boat flipped over and capsized in the waters off Liberty Island.
Two people died in the incident, police revealed, a woman and a child. The child was just five months old, sources revealed to the New York Post.
A loved one of one of the victims of the crash could be heard wailing "No. Why? Why? No!" in horror at the NYU Langone Hospital, where many of the victims had been taken to recover.
It's still unclear if the two victims who died were related and exactly how many passengers were aboard.
Reports of the incident came in just after 10:30PM on Saturday night, and a desperate rescue mission by emergency services was then launched.
In video captured of the scene, multiple emergency vessels were pictured in the water, with flashing lights of red, white and blue cutting through the night sky.
Divers from the New York Police Department were also present in the water, helping to rescue passengers and take them to safety.
FDNY helicopters also responded to the scene and could be seen hovering overhead.
Many of the injured were taken to NYU Langone Hospital.
According to reports by the Daily Mail, a woman and a five-month old child were also taken the hospital, but died of their injuries there.
According to the Daily Mail, survivors of the horror crash were seen at the hospital still wearing their life jackets.
In a statement to the New York Post, NYPD confirmed that 12 of the 14 victims of the capsizing were brought to safety by the time emergency services arrived.
They also confirmed that a woman and child were transported to the hospital but later died there.
However, the ultimate cause of the crash - and what lead to the boat flipping over and capsizing in the waters - is still undetermined.
us2 min(s) read
A devastating boating accident in the waters between Brooklyn and Staten Island left four people dead, one injured, and another missing on Sunday afternoon, authorities confirmed.
The vessel capsized around noon in the Ambrose Channel — New York City’s main shipping lane — prompting a frantic multi-agency rescue effort, according to the NYPD.
Per ABC News, five of the six people aboard were pulled from the freezing water, but four were found unresponsive. Police say all the individuals involved were men.
Emergency responders transported the victims to local medical facilities.
Two were airlifted to Staten Island Hospital, while three were taken to Coast Guard Station Sandy Hook for urgent treatment.
Despite the efforts of rescue teams and medical staff, three people were initially tragically been pronounced dead.
CBS New York has since reported that family members have confirmed a fourth person has died as a result of the tragedy.
The fifth person remains in a stable condition, police say.
The family of 50-year-old Cecilio Adames told CBS News New York’s Naveen Dhaliwal that he and his friends had set out on a fishing trip, before the tragedy claimed his life.
"I called him at 10 o’clock in the morning and asked, ‘Everything OK?’ He said, ‘It’s a lot of wind. Everything is dangerous.’ I told him, ‘Thank God you didn’t bring my daughter,’ because she sometimes went with him. He said, ‘No, it’s far away, like 25 miles.’ And then, disappeared," his wife, Francisca Adames, recalled.
Loved ones described Cecilio as the backbone of their family.
"He’s that man, and everybody will remember him as that man. Because he always risked his life trying to help other people," said his daughter, Alisha Adames.
The U.S. Coast Guard, NYPD, FDNY, and New Jersey State Police are continuing a search-and-rescue operation for the missing individual, but freezing water temperatures have raised concerns about the individual's survival chances.
The Coast Guard deployed three rescue boats and an MH-65 helicopter to aid in the effort, concentrating their search about five miles southeast of Breezy Point, Queens.
Officials have not yet released details about the victims, the type of vessel involved, or the circumstances leading up to the tragic incident.
The investigation remains ongoing.
Our thoughts go out to every person impacted by this tragedy.
world news4 min(s) read
A man who survived a horror incident on board a tourist boat has revealed how he managed to escape when the vessel capsized in a sudden storm.
According to reports, at least 35 people were killed when the boat capsized, including eight children that had been on board, as a further eight people remain missing.
The Wonder Sea had set sail with 49 tourists and five crew members on board for three-hour excursion when it was hit by an unexpected heavy storm at around 1.30PM on Saturday.
The vessel, which had been on a sightseeing tour of Ha Long Bay, Vietnam, overturned after heavy rain and wind pummelled the boat, VNExpress reported.
An onlooker told AFP, as reported by the New York Post, that the storm had come on suddenly, with the sky instantly turning dark with torrential rain and "hailstones as big as toes,” as well as thunder and lightning.
An immediate rescue operation was launched after the boat capsized, with border guards, navy units, police and port authorities deployed along with 27 boats and two rescue vessels.
Rescue teams were able to save 11 people - one of whom later died in hospital - and recovered 35 bodies, eight of which were children, as efforts continue to locate those that remain missing.
One of the survivors - Dang Anh Tuan, a 36-year-old fire extinguisher salesman - revealed that the storm set in quickly, darkening the sky and bringing with it pouring rain and high winds.
He told the Associated Press that passengers had asked the crew to turn back but they responded that they were almost at their destination and kept the boat moving forward.
Tuan told the outlet: "It rained for about 15 minutes, and then the boat started to shake vigorously, tables and chairs were jostled around and seconds later the boat overturned. Water gushed in and I lost all orientation."
Revealing how he managed to survive, Tuan explained: "I tried to breathe. But more water came in. I took a deep breath, got rid of my life vest and dove down.
"I saw a streak of light and followed it to swim out, escaping the boat, and then I climbed on the overturned boat to look for help."
Tuan and several others survived by clinging to the capsized boat and its propellers as they waited around two hours for the rain to stop and rescuers to arrive.
The Wonder Sea was later seen being towed to a shipyard with most of its windows shattered and damage to the roof and handrails as an investigation is set to begin, per the New York Post.
Local reports stated that all of the passengers on board were Vietnamese, with most of them being tourists from Hanoi. Around 20 of those on board are believed to have been children.
Tuan was on holiday with 11 of his friends but only three of whom have survived.
He revealed that while he had suffered only minor cuts, one of his friends had sustained multiple injuries to his head, while the other had cut tendons from the broken glass as he escaped from the boat through a smashed window.
The other nine members of the group were tragically killed, including one who was traveling with his wife and three-year-old son, who also died.
Our thoughts remain with all those affected by this tragedy.
us news3 min(s) read
A hunt is on for six missing people after one person was found dead following a luxury yacht capsizing off the coast of Sicily.
The 160-foot luxury boat called the 'Bayesian' had 22 people on board - 12 of whom were passengers and 10 crew members - when it was hit by a violent storm at sunrise.
The yacht, which sails under the British flag, sank off the port of Porticello, the Italian Coast Guard said, leaving six people missing.
Among those unaccounted for are four Britons, two Americans, and one Canadian passenger, according to reports from the Guardian.
One person was found dead, while the remaining 15 people on board were rescued from the wreck, including the captain of the ship, an Italian Coast Guard spokesperson told CNN.
Eight of the people rescued, including a one-year-old child, were taken to local hospitals and all are in a stable condition according to Italian media.
A source told CNN that British tech tycoon Mike Lynch, the founder of software giant Autonomy, was among the passengers on board who is reportedly missing.
The yacht had been hit by a tornado at around 5AM on Monday while it was anchored about half a mile from the port of Porticello, according to a spokesperson for Italy’s Coast Guard.
The European Severe Weather Database reported that a small waterspout, one of several types of tornadoes, had developed over the area on Monday morning, while other strong storms brought torrential rainfall across Sicily late on Sunday, dumping more than 4 inches (100 mm) of rain in less than four hours in Brolo, east of Palermo.
The Italian fire brigade told press in a statement that divers had reached the yacht's hull 49 meters (160 feet) below sea level and had also dispatched helicopters to help with the search.
One of the passengers on board, a 35-year-old woman called Charlotte, told reporters, as cited by Italian news agency ANSA that she had battled to hold on to her one-year-old daughter Sofia, as the boat sank.
She reportedly said: "In two seconds I lost the baby in the sea, then I immediately hugged her again amidst the fury of the waves. I held her tightly, close to me, while the sea was stormy. Many were screaming."
The captain of a boat moored near the Bayesian told reporters, as cited by Reuters, that he had turned his engine on to avoid crashing into the yacht during the fierce storm.
He added: "This morning we got this strong gust and we had to start the engine to keep the ship in an angled position. After the storm was over, we noticed that the ship behind us was gone."
The Bayesian had left the Sicilian port of Milazzo on August 14 and was last tracked east of Palermo on Sunday evening with the status of "at anchor", according to vessel tracking app Vesselfinder.
us3 min(s) read
Tragic new details have emerged about the final moments of a young woman who died after falling from a Carnival cruise ship off the California coast earlier this week.
The 24-year-old, who has been identified as Briana Miller, reportedly fell to her death from the balcony of her stateroom on board the Carnival Firenze on Monday morning (April 27).
According to a source close to the case who spoke to The California Post, Miller had been arguing with her family in the moments before she fell.
The FBI is said to be still investigating the incident.
The Carnival Firenze had set sail from Long Beach on Sunday and was bound for Mexico when the incident occurred.
The ship can carry up to 4,126 guests and 1,425 crew members, and is around 1,061 feet long.
The source told The California Post that Miller jumped from her stateroom balcony before hitting the deck below.
A private investigator named Kelly Duhs, who happened to be on board the ship at the time, told the outlet that members of the ship's staff said the victim had been fighting with her family before her death.
"It's horrible," she said.
According to a law enforcement officer, Miller's body was transported off the ship on Monday and her family left the same day.
Carnival Cruise Line has confirmed the death and says it's supporting the family.
Spokesperson Julie Leonardi told reporters that the victim had been travelling with her family, and that they were the ones who alerted the ship's crew to what had happened.
"As is customary following these kinds of incidents, law enforcement was on board while the ship was in Catalina Island on Monday to collect information," Leonardi said.
She added that the cruise line's 'Care Team' was with the family in the aftermath.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with them and their loved ones," she said.
The FBI confirmed it had boarded the Carnival Firenze when it docked in Catalina Island on Monday.
"The FBI responded to the ship when it docked in Catalina Island on Monday and is investigating an incident on board which resulted in death," FBI spokesperson Lourdes Arocho told The California Post.
"More specific details are not being provided at this time as the investigation is ongoing."
Miller's death is the second cruise-related death involving Carnival to make headlines in recent months.
Last November, 18-year-old Anna Kepner was found dead beneath a bed in her cabin on the Carnival Horizon.
Her death was later ruled as mechanical asphyxia, and her 16-year-old stepbrother was charged with homicide in connection with her death in February 2026.
If you or someone you know is struggling, support is available 24/7. In the US, you can call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. In the UK, you can call Samaritans on 116 123.
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