Updated: 1 hour 30 minutes ago
Hugh Collins
(May 8) – A Staten Island ferry boat crashed into the ferry terminal this morning, injuring dozens of people, New York police said.
The boat accelerated as it approached the pier, then crashed, eyewitness Alex Gonzalez told CNN.
The accident occurred around 9:25 a.m., CNN reported. Authorities said 252 passengers and 18 crew members were on board.
Reports varied on how many were injured, with CNN saying that at least 55 were hurt, while The New York Times put the figure at nearly 40.
Robert Mecea, AP
Emergency personnel lift a person into an ambulance at the St. George Ferry Terminal in the Staten Island borough of New York, Saturday, after a ferry boat struck a pier.
"It was chaos, pandemonium," Gonzalez said. "There were a lot of people hurt."
The ferry was the Andrew J. Barberi, the same boat that crashed in 2003, killing 11 people and injuring dozens, according to The New York Post.
The boat may have crashed because of an engine malfunction as it approached the terminal.
The captain sounded the alarm about one minute before the crash because he was unable to slow the boat down, CNN reported. Crew members tried to move passengers to the back of the ferry as it collided with the terminal at a speed of about 5.75 miles per hour.
"It just didn't slow down at all – it was coming so fast everyone in the terminal started yelling and running," eyewitness Judy Jones told The Post.
The impact left two breaches in the boat's hull, one about 4 feet by 6 feet and the other 4 feet by 4 feet, authorities said.
Eyewitnesses reported seeing flames rise and black smoke coming out of the back of the boat, according to CNN.
The boat crashed in 2003 after the pilot, Richard Smith, lost consciousness at the helm because he had been taking pain medication, The Post reported.
Smith fled the scene and later tried to commit suicide at his Staten Island home. He eventually pled guilty to 11 counts of seamen's manslaughter.
The Barberi was recommissioned at a cost of nearly $9 million and put back in service after the accident, The Times reported.
Governor David Paterson said today's accident would have "no long-term consequences" for the ferry system. Paterson visited the scene of the accident and returned to Manhattan by ferry.
The Staten Island Ferry transports 65,000 people on the 5.2 mile journey between Staten Island and Manhattan on weekdays, according to CNN.
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