A boat accident near Miami has claimed the life of a 27-year-old man, while his companion was hospitalized and the city’s harbor was thrown into disarray.
Cristian Gaston Fernandez, a resident of Cutler Bay, was discovered dead by divers from Miami Fire Rescue, while his friend Angel Dominguez, 29, and from Hialeah, suffered severe injuries and was rushed to the hospital, according to authorities.
The unfortunate event occurred at around 3:40 am on Sunday, June 25, when the pair, aboard a 30-foot boat, collided with a Fisher Island ferry near Dodge Island, Miami. Ferry workers managed to rescue Dominguez from the water, where he informed them of his missing friend before being taken for medical treatment. Roughly five minutes later, Gaston Fernandez was found lifeless in the water.
As a result of the crash, the Miami port was shut down, leaving around 15,000 cruise passengers stranded near the Florida coast.
Authorities have deemed the crash an accident, and an official provided details about the rescue operation at the scene. He said, “When we arrived on the scene, we found one patient that the coast guard had recovered from the water. He was transported to the Ryder Trauma Center. He began asking for his friend, so at that point, we were notified that there was a second occupant in the boat. We found the other victim underwater after about a five-minute search. Unfortunately, the victim had died.”
Videos circulating online showed hundreds of disappointed cruise passengers waiting in a terminal area, unable to board the Carnival Celebration for nearly a day.
One stranded cruise passenger, Barnabas Johnson, said that he and his pregnant wife had been standing for several hours, eagerly awaiting the reopening of the port. Hunger and thirst were becoming concerns, as Johnson related that people were complaining as they were waiting.
Videos shared online also revealed the sight of numerous cruise liners idling in the water, their departure delayed indefinitely.
In response to the incident, the US Coast Guard implemented a temporary security zone, restricting vessel traffic in and out of the Miami port while the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission investigated. Later, they reported that the “sunken vessel” continued to pose a “significant hazard to navigation” around the port. However, several hours later, the US Coast Guard confirmed the successful recovery of the vessel and announced the reopening of the port.
