7 Injured, Boat Split In Two In Long Island Boating Crash
FREEPORT, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- Seven people were injured Saturday night after a boat collision in Nassau County that was so violent, one of the boats was split in two.
There was a huge rescue effort at Cow Meadow Park. Multiple first responders were seen on the ground, taking people who were injured in the collision out of the water.
Video even shows them treating patients in the grass while some of the victims were placed into the backs of ambulances.
Geris Durin, of Freeport, says he and his friends rolled up on the crash seconds after it happened.
"The guy was like, 'Don't let me die, don't let me die, don't let me die,'" Durin told CBS2's Cory James.
Durin and his friends jumped in to help those hurt.
"One lady, the leg was off, or the leg was broken. The other guy, me and him, we pull it out, he got like a hole in his stomach and there was like a big cut in the back. And the other guy, he said he got a broken back. And I think one more lady had like a cut to her face," he said.
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Video shows the boat that was split in half after authorities say another boat crashed into it just before 7 p.m. Saturday.
"The boat looked like, it looked like it was held together by a thread. Like the fiberglass in the bottom was just barely holding each other together," witness Chris Ludwig, of Freeport, said.
Freeport Fire says first responders took a total of seven people to the hospital. Three had very serious injuries, and the other four had various injuries.
Reportedly, at least one person died in the crash, but as of 11 p.m. Saturday, authorities would not confirm that information.
"The one boat was very significant. You could see that the boat that hit it literally looked like it drove right through it, and that's what put those civilians into the water," Freeport Fire Department executive director Raymond Maguire said.
As the cause of the crash is being investigated, boaters who come out to that area often say people speeding on the water is a common problem.
"Definitely was going fast because if that's a five mileage, all of that damage to that other boat would not be happening so big like that, so you could tell he was speeding a little bit," Durin said.
"It's frustrating to see the lack of etiquette, the lack of caring. To see the shape of a jet ski in the middle of a boat is not something that we really want to see," Ludwig said.
The investigation is ongoing.
