The dead, 7-year-old Julian Vasquez and 47-year-old Lindelia Vasquez, were part of a group of family members who boarded the jet boat Stimulus Money in Elizabeth, NJ on Tuesday afternoon for a trip down the Hudson River. Another 11 family members, all from Colombia, were injured, at least six women and three men. They are between 19 and 53 years old. The 24-year-old captain of the boat, who had a license and is from Elizabeth, was also injured. Along with those killed, four aboard were taken to Mount Sinai West with non-life threatening injuries. The victims were staying with their extended family at a hotel in Elizabeth, NJ “This is a devastating time for them and those who are part of the families that were there and as New Yorkers our hearts go out,” said New York City Mayor Eric Adams. The 27-foot Yamaha boat capsized near the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum for unknown reasons, although investigators suspect it was caught in the wake of a passing vessel. The owner of the boat was following behind the boat on a jet ski. According to the FDNY, sea and land units responded to the Hudson River off West 46th Street and Pier 84 in Midtown Manhattan just after 2:45 p.m. Authorities say the 7-year-old boy and 47-year-old woman died after becoming trapped under the boat. “Obviously, anytime it’s a kid, maybe your emotional state changes, but you do what you have to do and you train so that’s what we’re here to do,” said FDNY Firefighter Ryan Warnock. Warnock found the 7-year-old boy and paramedics tried everything, but by the time he got to the hospital, it was too late for him and the woman who was also trapped. The outcome of the boating tragedy could have been much worse had it not been for the swift response of a New York ferry that happened to be passing by at the time. In a statement, the New York Waterway Ferry operator said two of the the ferries. Its crews rescued nine people on board. “We kicked in and did what we had to do, put on our life jackets, turned the boat around and flipped the adjacent swing down and started pulling the passengers out,” said a New York Waterway Ferry employee. An eyewitness saw the incident unfold on one of the ferries. “We went to the ship and we saw a boat overturned, everybody in the boat and they were screaming – so the ship stopped and they threw the life jacket and then we pulled them out one by one,” said Marsow. On board were some of the same crew members who rescued passengers from US Airways Flight 1549, also known as the “Miracle on the Hudson,” which crash-landed in the Hudson River more than a decade ago. Divers lifted the boat from the Hudson River Monday night. Investigators are looking at how many people were on board and their cumulative weight. They say it’s too early to know what went wrong. “We had the current the wind so you can have wakes coming in from different directions, waves coming in from different directions,” said NYPD Harbor Inspector Anthony Russo. “The Hudson River is always a dangerous place to operate.” READ ALSO | 3 teenagers killed, 1 in critical condition after crash in Staten Island ———-* Get eyewitness news * More New York news* Send us a news tip* Download the abc7NY app for emergency alerts * Follow us on YouTube Submit a news tip Copyright © 2022 WABC-TV. All rights reserved.
