Boat accident in Manasquan,NJ,,LAST NIGHT

Rick..stillcasting 5/23/2009, 8:16 am

1 killed, 4 injured when boats collide on Manasquan River
By Larry Higgs and Bonnie Delaney • STAFF WRITERS • May 22, 2009

MANASQUAN — State police said one person was killed and four injured — all teenagers, according to authorities and witnesses — when two boats collided in the Manasquan River near the railroad bridge Friday evening.

The accident happened on the north side of the river at the mouth of the Manasquan Inlet when a 15-foot-boat and a 25-foot-boat collided, said Sgt. Julian Castellano, State Police spokesman.

The smaller boat had five people aboard and the larger boat had two people aboard, according to the Coast Guard.

Coast Guard Petty Officer Chris McLaughlin said the boats were traveling in opposite directions when the operator of the smaller boat somehow lost control, leading to the collision.

Witnesses said the smaller boat's five occupants appeared to be teens between the ages of 13 and 16.

State Police were called at 7:45 p.m., and marine police, State Police aviation units and the Coast Guard responded, Castellano said.

Four people from the 15-foot-boat were thrown into the water, the Coast Guard said in a prepared release, with one person was reported unconscious and initially trapped on the boat.

A small boat crew from Coast Guard Station Manasquan Inlet, a Sea Tow boat crew and a Good Samaritan arrived on scene and took the four people out of the water, the release said. Four people were taken to Union Landing Marina here to be placed in the care of emergency medical personnel.

Of the injured, two were flown by State Police medivac helicopter to Jersey Shore Medical Center in Neptune, and two were taken there by ambulance, Castellano said.

McLaughlin said two of the teens were hospitalized in critical condition late Friday while two others were in good condition. Two men on the 25-foot-boat were not injured, he said.

None of the people who were aboard the two boats were immediately identified.

State police were conducting interviews Friday night in trying to determine how the accident happened, and the boats involved was being towed to the marine police station in Point Pleasant for examination, authorities said.

Two men and a woman sitting on the steps outside the marine police station said they had no comment when approached by a reporter.

I was traveling over the bridge last nite and saw all the emergency trucks/medi-vac helicopter and coast guard boat, I was in company of local Brielle police officer,at party,word was he was doing donuts on the water when accident happened,, no matter how you slice lost of life is sad and in this case worthless. These families now will have a life of pain.