A New York City ferry boat with as many as 800 passengers aboard hit a pier while docking, injuring fifteen people. The injuries are minor. The hard docking at the St. George ferry terminal in Staten Island happened shortly after 7 p.m. yesterday at the end of the evening rush hour. Witnesses told The Staten Island Advance that the ferry came into the dock slip quickly after its power failed. They said there was an announcement from the pilothouse to “hang on,” and riders scrambled to the rear of the boat.Fire department officials say between 750 and 800 passengers were evacuated from the John J. Marchi ferry boat after the incident.
A spokesman for the city’s Department of Transportation had no immediate comment.
The U.S. Coast Guard says drug and alcohol tests have been ordered for the ferry crew.
The same terminal was the scene of a ferry boat crash in 2003 that killed 11 people in one of the city’s worst mass-transit disasters.
{NewYorkNow/Noam Amdurski-Matzav.com Newscenter}
