3 hurt after boat crashes into remains of old Long Island Bridge in Boston Harbor
BOSTON - Three men were rushed to the hospital after a boat crashed into part of the remains of the old Long Island Bridge in Boston Harbor Tuesday morning.
Boston Police said the 25-foot boat slammed into one of the bridge's support columns around 10:15 a.m. Mike Knudsen, tow captain with TowBoatUS who brought the boat to shore, said the bridge remains are visible to boaters. "They're pretty big embankments that the bridge used to stand on," he said.
The Boston Coast Guard said that the boat received damage to the port bow.
"The boat was still floating. It had a lot of damage to the front end, the bow section of the boat from the collision," Knudsen said.
Deputy Superintendent of Boston EMS Tom Finn said that all three victims were conscious and in serious, but stable condition when Harbor Police and EMS brought them to shore. The three were taken to nearby Boston hospitals with what were described as "non-life-threatening injuries."
The three men were fishing on the boat, which the Coast Guard said operates as a commercial fishing vessel. Witnesses said they saw blood and that the men appeared to be scuffed up. They have not been identified yet.
Knudsen said he was thinking of the three men who survived the crash. "I hope they're ok."
"It was a boat accident out by Moon Island out by the Long Island Bridge that was taken down thereabouts. I can't tell you the exact location. It was a boat. I'm not sure how long it was. It was three adults that were injured, all awake when they got back here," Finn told reporters.
Nearby boaters said that they did not feel like the weather was dangerous on Tuesday. There is no word yet on what caused the crash.
Long Island Bridge history
The Long Island Bridge originally connected Moon Island in Quincy with Long Island, one of the Boston Harbor islands where there was an addiction treatment center that closed ten years ago.
The bridge was also shut down due to structural concerns and it was demolished in 2015.
Boston and Quincy have had a long feud over the bridge and whether it will be rebuilt.
In August of last year, Boston secured a permit to accelerate the rebuilding of the bridge and reconstruct 11 buildings on the island for a new recovery center. Quincy Mayor Thomas Koch has been against rebuilding the bridge and planned to appeal the decision because of traffic issues.