Hartford Courant
(TNS)
The search was expected to continue in the morning hours after a boat crash in Old Saybrook on Monday night left one person dead, six people hospitalized and two others missing.
Emergency crews responded to the report of a boat crash at 9:15 p.m. and discovered a “half-submerged” motorboat floating near the Harbor One Marina, according to Will Healey, spokesperson for the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.
The 31-foot open boat sustained “significant damage” after hitting the “east-facing jetty” at the mouth of the Connecticut River, Healy said.
Officials believe nine people were on board.
According to Capt. Keith Williams of DEEP’s Marine District Headquarters, authorities received multiple 911 calls reporting the crash. Three people were initially reported missing before one of them was found dead within the vessel, he said.
The search efforts for the two others were suspended sometime after 1 a.m. before resuming shortly after 6 a.m. Six others were taken to area hospitals on Monday night.
According to Williams, the operator of the boat was listed in critical condition and one of the victims was released from the hospital late Monday. He did not have additional details about the condition of the other four victims.
At a news briefing Tuesday morning, Williams said crews were in “search and recovery mode.”
“We always hope for the best,” he said. “But at this point it’s most likely going to be a recovery.”
The focus of the search was expected to be in the area of the mouth of the Connecticut River, though Williams said that could be expanded based on tides, currents and wind conditions.
The agencies that responded to the crash included DEEP’s EnCon Police as well as the Coast Guard, Connecticut State Police Dive Unit, Old Saybrook Police Department, Middlesex Health EMT’s, and the Middletown, Essex, Goshen, Old Saybrook, Old Lyme and Clinton fire departments.
According to Williams, the boat was returning from Block Island. He said the tide was coming in at the time of the crash and that the weather conditions “weren’t bad” beyond it being a little breezy. Authorities did not receive any reports of fog affecting visibility, according to Williams.
While describing the area where the crash occurred, Williams said both jetties at the mouth of the river are only covered by an “extremely high tide.” During a normal high tide there’s still about 4 or 5 feet of the jetty exposed, he said.
“A lot of people will try to cut through that jetty and not come through the mouth because it’s a little quicker,” Williams said. “It is shallow out there, but at high tide there’s plenty of water to go through there.”
The crash occurred not far from where a boat crashed into a break wall last year on Labor Day. That crash was reported at nearly the same time, shortly before 9:30 p.m., and led to four people being taken to the hospital.
According to Williams, it’s not unusual for boaters who visited Block Island to be returning late at night in the dark, especially over the holiday weekend.
When asked whether he would describe the area as a problem for boaters, Williams said “No, I wouldn’t say that.”
“It is well marked,” he added. “And again, very early in the stages of the investigation, but we’ll try to figure out the operator’s experience. And once we get the boat we’ll look at all kinds of stuff as far as electronics go. But that stuff is usually well marked, the jetties are well marked, and if the navigation equipment on the boat is running it should all be well marked.”
“At night, it’s a different ball game.”
Williams said it was too early in the investigation to determine if speed or any other factors could have played a role. The focus of authorities on Tuesday was on the extensive search efforts.
Authorities are also looking for any witnesses to the crash or boaters who were in the area with video.
©2024 Hartford Courant. Visit courant.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
