10 Die In NYC Ferry Incident

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2003-10-15 06:57pm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3195618.stm

Ten dead in NYC ferry disaster

Witnesses reported scenes of panic
At least 10 people have died after a ferry operating across New York City harbour crashed as it came into dock at Staten Island, Mayor Michael Bloomberg has said.

The incident occurred around 1500 local time (1900 GMT), just before the city's rush hour, as the Staten Island ferry came in to St George Terminal from lower Manhattan.

Eyewitnesses told the AFP news agency the ferry hit the dock at speed and wooden pilings lining the pier punctured the side of the vessel just above the waterline.

Several victims lost limbs while others were reported trapped in piles of debris aboard the ferry, witnesses said.

Others were forced to jump for their lives.

Emergency workers are digging through the wreckage in an attempt to reach victims, while ferry services have been suspended.

It is not known what caused the accident, and BBC correspondent Jane Standley says that although the ferry was travelling in quite high winds normally the boats are capable of withstanding such conditions.

Damage

Witnesses spoke of scenes of panic as passengers tried to escape.

"We didn't see what happened at first, but suddenly passengers came running inside from the deck," he told local television news.

"There was absolute panic, people were crying and putting on lifejackets... it was only then we realised we had hit the pier."

Local news pictures showed extensive damage to the front of the ferry.

More than 70,000 passengers a day take the ferry into Manhattan to work in the city's financial district, while tourists use it to see the city's Statue of Liberty.

It is not known how many passengers were on board when the crash happened.

Howedar · Post by **Howedar** » 2003-10-15 07:16pm

IT'S THE TERRORISTS!!

But seriously, that sucks.

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2003-10-15 07:30pm

There the suggestion the high winds may have blown the ship off course, which is certainly possibul since its basically a big flat sided box and the US north east has been getting heavy winds up to 50mph all day.

TrailerParkJawa · Post by **TrailerParkJawa** » 2003-10-15 07:32pm

How cold is the water there? I heard some people were being treated for hypothermia.

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2003-10-15 07:39pm

TrailerParkJawa wrote:How cold is the water there? I heard some people were being treated for hypothermia.

The waters off Atlantic City, New Jersey were 64 Fahrenheit today, the waters of New York city would be about the same. Combine that with the wind and you could get some hypothermia cases easily from those people who where knocked into the water.

MKSheppard · Post by **MKSheppard** » 2003-10-16 07:19pm

Am I the only one who doesn't give a shit? I mean, It's bad and all that,
but this is splashed all over the front page, crowding out such important
facts as that Palestinian bombing of our diplomats, while a tour bus
crash that was almost as bad 6~ dead a few days ago was buried in the
middle of the papers.

Howedar · Post by **Howedar** » 2003-10-16 07:29pm

Its because anything that doesn't happen in NYC doesn't matter.

MKSheppard · Post by **MKSheppard** » 2003-10-16 10:03pm

Howedar wrote:Its because anything that doesn't happen in NYC doesn't matter.

And people wonder why the rest of the country hates NYC and wishes
at times that Mohammed Atta had been packing something a few
KILOtons in power, rather than a boxcutter on that day.

MKSheppard · Post by **MKSheppard** » 2003-10-16 11:04pm

Right now I'm just pretty goddamned jaded over the way the national
media is turning what is in essence a tragic, if local thing, into national
news.

And yes, it's in the contract, that Washingtonians must hate New
Yorkers, and vice versa.

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2003-10-16 11:16pm

MKSheppard wrote:Right now I'm just pretty goddamned jaded over the way the national
media is turning what is in essence a tragic, if local thing, into national
news.

I think you can partly blame the nature of the accident, maritime accidents aren't very common in American waters but bus crashes are. When a cruise ship had a steam explosion earlier this year in Florida it also made major news for a couple days, despite the death of only two people and the total lack of any external damage to take picture of.

MKSheppard · Post by **MKSheppard** » 2003-10-16 11:23pm

Sea Skimmer wrote: I think you can partly blame the nature of the accident, maritime accidents aren't very common in American waters but bus crashes are. When a cruise ship had a steam explosion earlier this year in Florida it also made major news for a couple days, despite the death of only two people and the total lack of any external damage to take picture of.

Meh, I'm a bit surprised at the fatality count. What the hell was with
these people? Gee, the ferry isn't slowing down, so I think I'll just go
out and stand on the bow and watch it crash!

Uraniun235 · Post by **Uraniun235** » 2003-10-16 11:31pm

There was a steam explosion on a cruise liner?!?

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2003-10-16 11:39pm

Uraniun235 wrote:There was a steam explosion on a cruise liner?!?

It was on the liner Norway in late May while it was docked in Miami. I forget if it was a burst boiler or a pipe but whatever it was when high-pressure steam is given the opportunity to expand in large the effect is basically that of an explosion. The ship was disabled and had to be towed back to Europe for repairs. The toll was two dead, five badly injured as I recall, might have been one or two more or less on the injured list. All where crew and the ship had no passengers onboard at the time IIRC.

Post by **The Yosemite Bear** » 2003-10-17 12:10am

Well, there was 22 Black Panther's killed in Georgia Tech the same day as Kent State. May Sixth 1970. can you guess which incident got more news media. Of course living in Central Valley/Humbolt hell most of my life, I am really sick of things happening in LA & SF getting all of the media.

Iceberg · Post by **Iceberg** » 2003-10-17 12:21am

Guess how tired Twin Citians are of everything always happening in Chicago...

Howedar · Post by **Howedar** » 2003-10-17 01:38am

The thing is, people in Minneapolis and St. Paul might actually be affected by Chicago events: its what, 7 hours away?

See, I live across the fucking continent from NYC, and I still get all the news about it.

Post by **fgalkin** » 2003-10-17 02:26am

MKSheppard wrote:
Sea Skimmer wrote: I think you can partly blame the nature of the accident, maritime accidents aren't very common in American waters but bus crashes are. When a cruise ship had a steam explosion earlier this year in Florida it also made major news for a couple days, despite the death of only two people and the total lack of any external damage to take picture of.
Meh, I'm a bit surprised at the fatality count. What the hell was with
these people? Gee, the ferry isn't slowing down, so I think I'll just go
out and stand on the bow and watch it crash!

No. When the ferry pulls in, the people usually stand up and move to the front so they can leave sooner. They were already standing there when the ferry crashed.

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2003-10-17 03:30am

Re: the "why did it make national news" complaints:

It made the news because it was an unusual way to die. This is like asking why the Columbine shooting made the national news even though more than a hundred people die in traffic accidents every day, and that day was probably no exception.

TrailerParkJawa · Post by **TrailerParkJawa** » 2003-10-17 03:50am

This makes national news because ferry accidents are usually something we expect from overcrowded, undermaintained ferrys in the third world.

salm · Post by **salm** » 2003-10-17 05:50am

china successfully ends a manned space mission and the usa are too dumb to stear a ferry?

i´m telling´ ya, this world´s goin´down the drain.