57 Injured, 11 Seriously, When Ferry Makes Hard Landing In Lower Manhattan
Injured riders have been placed on stretchers and taken to ambulances. At least two people are in critical condition, one of whom is in surgery with a head injury.
Passengers, several of whom were standing as they waited to leave the boat, were tossed on impact. The ferry has no seat belts.
Dee Wertz, who was on shore, told AP that the ferry "was coming in a little wobbly" and "hit the right side of the boat on the dock hard, like a bomb."
Department of Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan said the ferry "hit Slip D and then continued on and hit Slip B ... It looked like it was 10 to 12 knots.”
Here's the damage to the 141-foot-long 'Seastreak Wall Street,' which was carrying about 343 passengers and 5 crew members:
Rider Ellen Foran of Neptune City, N.J., told Colleen Long of The Associated Press that people tumbled on top of one another, hysterical and crying.
“All of a sudden, people that were standing up went flying into the aisles -- people flew four, five, six feet,” commuter Roy Marleau told The New York Post. “People that were standing outside crashed into glass doors and shattered them.”
Long noted that the corner of the ferry was "ripped open part the boat's hull like an aluminum can." Officials and Mayor Bloomberg are on the scene to determine the cause of the crash.
Here was the scene after the crash:
