This is the terrifying moment a tour boat crashed into an open-air tour boat in Miami earlier this month.
Twenty-nine passengers were injured and one of them was airlifted to hospital as a result of the “horrific” crash on February 11.
New footage of the collision, which took place around Fisherman’s Channel, shows the tourist boat ‘Obelix’ accelerating directly over the speedboat ‘Thriller’.
A group aboard the tour boat, which takes passengers on tours at 40 miles per hour, was visiting from New York, their attorney Thomas Graham said. told NBC news.
Graham said his clients suffered broken bones, one lost consciousness and another suffered a traumatic brain injury. They are now seeking unspecified monetary damages.
The collision took place around the Fisherman’s Channel and shows the tourist boat ‘Obelix’ accelerating directly over the boat ‘Thriller’.
13 passengers were injured and one was airlifted to hospital as a result of the “horrific” crash on February 11.
Boat crash near Port Miami has left 29 injured and more than a dozen hospitalized, officials said
The United States Coast Guard confirmed that the Obelix was operating illegally without a license.
“In this case, both ships were simply not safe,” Graham told NBC.
“They couldn’t maintain surveillance, they couldn’t avoid a collision, they accelerated,” he explained.
Adding: “In this video you can see that our client was lucky enough to take it and there was an extremely gruesome collision which, if safety had been followed, could have been completely avoided.”
“When you’re a captain on the water, especially when you hire passengers, you have to maintain a safe speed, be alert and avoid collisions, and none of that happened here on behalf of any of the ships.”
Authorities said they were deployed to the scene several miles from the seaport to transport survivors from the two ships to safety.
In total, officials said, more than 30 units responded to the afternoon crisis.
That response included an air rescue and several fireboats, along with vessels from the U.S. Coast Guard and the Florida Wildlife Commission.
The tour, according to its website, offers “the ultimate sightseeing experience” and, as its name suggests, is known for its daring speed paces. The reason for the accident is currently being investigated.
Officials at the time revealed that the other boat involved was private, but has not yet been identified. It is not clear if the occupants of that boat were also injured.
Horacio Rodríguez, MDFR division chief, said his agency and the Coast Guard are investigating the cause of the accident.
“Patients who had no complaints were taken back to Bayside,” officials said, before revealing that paramedics transported a total of 13 patients to an area hospital.
The patients were then moved to the coast, several miles from where the accident occurred, said Horacio Rodríguez, MDFR division chief.
“Our clients are actually from New York, they came to spend a nice weekend in Miami and unfortunately they were in this horrible accident,” said Eric J. Mausner, who also represents the victims.
Adding: “It appears that the charter boat collided with Thriller’s boat, but it is possible that Thriller’s boat turned into the charter boat’s lane,” Masuner said.
He added: “We have to do more research.”
“We believe they are both responsible, they both did not follow the rules of navigation,” Graham agreed.
The cause of the accident is being investigated by the United States Coast Guard and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.