The man piloting a boat that overturned near the Statue of Liberty in a deadly New York Harbor accident is now facing multiple criminal charges, authorities said.
Manuel Hernandez, 46, has been charged with 13 counts of reckless endangerment after a 27-year-old woman and a five-month-old baby girl died following the Saturday night capsizing, according to police.
Investigators allege Hernandez was operating a 22-foot bowrider motorboat carrying 14 people when the vessel flipped at about 10:30 p.m., with the New York Police Department saying the boat was dangerously overcrowded at the time.
Emergency crews located the woman and infant at the scene and rushed them by air to NYU Langone Hospital in Brooklyn, where both arrived in critical condition, police said.
They were later pronounced dead. Officials have not released their names while relatives are being notified, and police have not said whether the two victims were family members.
The capsizing triggered a major search-and-rescue response in the harbor. Twelve other passengers were pulled from the water with minor injuries and taken to hospitals for treatment.
At the hospital, anguished cries from relatives and loved ones could be heard in the aftermath of the tragedy, the New York Post reported.
Manuel Hernandez, 46, is facing 13 reckless endangerment charges after a 27-year-old woman and a five-month-old girl died when a boat overturned in New York Harbor on Saturday night
Sources told the New York Post that the boat captain, who has not been publicly identified, had been operating the vessel while it was dangerously overloaded with 14 people onboard
Multiple units from the FDNY, Harbor, Scuba and Aviation, responded to the scene in the Hudson River near Buoy 32 between the Statue of Liberty and Bay Ridge Anchorage
‘No. Why? Why? No,’ a relative reportedly screamed in horror. People at the hospital were also reportedly still holding their life jackets.
Multiple units from the FDNY, Harbor, Scuba and Aviation, responded to the scene in the Hudson River near Buoy 32 between the Statue of Liberty and Bay Ridge Anchorage, police told CNN.
Divers with the New York Police Department were also seen in the water rescuing passengers.
Footage from the scene showed multiple emergency vessels in the water flashing lights.
The Daily Mail has reached out to the NYPD for more information.
The tragedy comes just over a month after a seaplane carrying eight people crashed into the East River, sparking an intense rescue effort on July 5.
The NYC Fire Department said the Kodiak 100 single-engine turbo prop made a hard landing on the water but all on board were safely rescued.
Two of them were Khloe Todd, 16, and her grandmother Ada Todd, 75, who were in the Hamptons celebrating one of Ada’s friends’ birthday.
The tragedy comes just over a month after a seaplane carrying eight people crashed into the East River, sparking an intense rescue effort on July 5
The NYC Fire Department said the Kodiak 100 single-engine turbo prop made a hard landing on the water but all on board were safely rescued
‘Plane is upright in the water and being towed back to dock. Eight civilians removed from plane by FDNY units,’ FDNY said at the time.
‘Two civilians with minor injuries are being evaluated by EMS.’
New Yorkers filmed the plane hit the choppy water and partially capsize, and rescue boats scramble to help the passengers from the stricken aircraft.
The passengers and crew were seen being assessed by ambulances near the entrance to FDR Drive after being brought to shore.
The aircraft was flying in from East Hampton Town, Long Island, and departed at 10.38am, according to flight data.
Blade Air told the Daily Mail the hard landing was likely caused by choppy water from passing boats and Saturday night’s thunderstorm.
‘There were a lot of ferries in the vicinity and there may have been wind at the last second,’ a source at the company said.
‘The waves they create can be a problem as you try to land on the water.’
Blade said the impact cracked one of the plane’s struts – which connects the pontoons to the body of the plane – which also caused damage to one of the pontoons.
This is a breaking news story.
