Statue Of Liberty Tragedy: Woman And Baby Dead After Boat Capsizes

Manuel Hernandez, a 46-year-old Manhattan resident, faces 13 counts of reckless endangerment after the motorboat he operated capsized in New York Harbor late Saturday, killing a 27-year-old woman and a 5-month-old girl.

The victims were pulled from the water by police divers and pronounced dead at NYU Langone Hospital—Brooklyn, police said, according to CNN. Police said their identities are pending family notification, and it was not immediately clear whether the two were related.

The boat, a 22-foot bowrider, was carrying 14 people when it flipped over off Liberty Island just before 10:30 p.m. The Coast Guard is investigating what caused the capsizing — including whether the trip was operating as an illegal charter.

Multiple agencies responded once the call came in, with the NYPD’s Harbor Unit, scuba team and aviation units, the FDNY, and the U.S. Coast Guard all converging on the harbor.

The captain was arrested early Sunday morning, the outlet reported. Twelve passengers survived — most of them plucked from the water by the captain and crew of the first boat on the scene, a hot tub boat called See the City II, according to the company’s owner, before police arrived — and were taken to hospitals with minor injuries. Some of those survivors could still be seen later that night in the lobby of NYU Langone Hospital—Brooklyn, clinging onto their life jackets.

Footage from the scene shows the blue and red lights of emergency craft moving through the darkness as crews continued searching the water. NYPD helicopters hovered overhead. FDNY vessels patrolled the area working to locate everyone and secure the scene.

At the hospital a loved one of one of the victims could be heard shouting in distress. “No. Why? Why? No.”

The Coast Guard Investigative Service and NYPD are continuing to investigate what caused the capsizing.