Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Four injured in Intracoastal boat collision
OAKLAND PARK – A man and a woman in a 22-foot center console boat were critically injured late Saturday in Fort Lauderdale when a vessel traveling behind them in the Intracoastal Waterway rammed into their boat from behind, officials said.
Andre Neves, 37, of Pompano Beach, and Juliana Da Costa Maria, 29, of Boca Raton, were taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Two other passengers, William and Evelyn Rountree of Boca Raton, sustained injuries that were not life-threatening.
Max Irvine, 36, of Deerfield Beach, was driving a 31-foot catamaran and collided with the 22-foot Twin Vee piloted by Neves about 10:30 p.m. Saturday.
Irvine and his passenger, Amanda Macke, 34, of Fort Lauderdale, were not injured in the crash, which happened behind Bokampers Sports Bar & Grill, 3115 NE 32nd Ave., north of East Oakland Park Boulevard, said Timothy Heiser, Fort Lauderdale Fire-Rescue deputy chief.
The injured were all taken to Broward Health Medical Center, Heiser said. Their conditions were not available Sunday night.
Investigators said the crash occurred when the catamaran rode up over the back of the first boat that may have slowed down. “The catamaran straddled the other boat,” said Heiser.
The boaters knew each other and were traveling together in the two vessels, Heiser said.
Bystanders took one of the injured to the dock at Bokampers and began CPR, Heiser said.
The fire department’s Fire Boat 49, which includes divers, responded to the scene. “There were some very serious injuries,” Heiser said.
Tyson Matthews, an FWC officer, said his agency would investigate the crash. “We look at every detail possible about what may have caused this,” Matthews said at the scene Sunday.
There were two boating incidents in Miami-Dade County on Sunday, according to reports. In one, a boat exploded, injuring three children and one adult, the Miami Herald reported. The other involved a personal watercraft hitting a boat; three people were taken to the hospital, TV stations reported.
The crashes come on the cusp of Safe Boating Week in Florida, which started Saturday and was proclaimed by Gov. Rick Scott to coincide with National Safe Boating Week. According to the FWC, there were 714 reportable boating accidents in Florida last year, resulting in the deaths of 67 people.