Police and fire crews were responding to a boat crash that injured several people near Clearwater, Florida. The exact number of injuries was not immediately known, but the fire department declared it a mass casualty incident, the Clearwater Police Department said.
At least two people who were “more seriously injured” were taken away by helicopter, police said.
According to police, a Clearwater Ferry carrying more than 40 people was in a collision with another boat, which fled the scene of the crash. All the people who were injured were on board the ferry, which “came to rest on a sandbar just south of the Memorial Causeway bridge,” police said. All the passengers, including those who were injured, have been taken off the ferry.
The Coast Guard said it had been notified the other boat was a recreational vehicle.
The Clearwater Memorial Causeway bridge connects Clearwater and Clearwater Beach.
This is a developing story. It will be updated.