Cameras Captured Barge-Sailboat Collision That Killed Two Young Girls

 

An investigation into the deadly collision between a construction barge and a small sailboat in Biscayne Bay is under way. The barge has been relocated alongside a nearby pier, and salvors have recovered the wreckage of the boat from underneath its hull. 

At about 1100 hours on Monday morning, Coast Guard Sector Miami received notice from Miami-Dade Fire Rescue that a barge had hit a sailboat near Hibiscus Island, a residential community off Miami Beach. The catamaran boat was run by a sail training camp, and five young girls were aboard, along with a 19-year-old instructor. All six people went into the water, and some came up underneath the barge. 

First responders rescued two people uninjured, including one student and the instructor. Two of the girls sustained critical injuries and remain in treatment, and two were pronounced dead at Jackson Memorial Hospital. 

"Our hearts are with the families of those lost and all who have been affected by this tragedy," said Capt. Frank Florio, Commander of Coast Guard Sector Miami.

CBS News Miami has obtained a surveillance video of the moment that the barge's bow made contact with the sailboat. The footage - taken facing the barge's starboard side - suggests that the sailboat remained upright for a few moments, pushed ahead by the bow of the tug, then capsized and disappeared under the bow. NBC Miami has obtained a similar video that captured the event from an angle facing the port side of the barge.

The master of the small tug that was pushing the barge at the time of the casualty has been questioned and tested for intoxicants, as is standard after a serious marine casualty, the Coast Guard said. The service is not speculating on causal factors while the investigation continues, but the inquiry will cover the tug crew's licensure and the operations of the sail training camp. 

"We owe you answers, and we are going to find them," Capt. Florio told local media at a press conference Tuesday.