A vessel carrying about a dozen people overturned off Liberty Island shortly before 10:30 p.m. Saturday
, leaving a woman and infant in critical condition.
Crews responded after the incident in New York Harbor
. A 5-month-old child was among more than a dozen people who had to be pulled from the water after the vessel flipped.
FDNY Harbor, Scuba and Aviation units responded to the scene, where multiple people were rescued before police arrived
.
It wasn’t immediately clear what caused the capsizing or the size of the vessel.
NYPD divers entered the water and found two victims, believed to be a woman and a child. Both were taken to a hospital in critical condition
, according to police sources.
The child was 5 months old, sources said.
Coast Guard crews were also notified and responded to assist, joining the massive rescue operation unfolding in the harbor’s waters.
Emergency responders worked quickly to locate and extract passengers from the overturned vessel as darkness fell over the harbor.
Video of the incident shows blue and red emergency craft lights searching the waters after the incident.
Helicopters could also be seen overhead, coordinating the response and lighting the area.
The vessel’s capacity and the total number of people aboard the boat were not immediately disclosed by authorities.
Sources indicated the boat was carrying approximately a dozen occupants at the time of the incident.
All victims had been pulled from the water by the time police and fire first responders arrived on scene, according to officials.
In the viral moment off Liberty Island, emergency crews worked throughout the night to rescue passengers clinging to the overturned vessel. More than a dozen people had been aboard when the boat flipped over. First responders from the FDNY, NYPD, and Coast Guard coordinated their efforts, with some rescued by ferries and other vessels passing through the area before official emergency personnel arrived. The woman and 5-month-old child were both found in critical condition and rushed to the hospital for immediate medical treatment. The circumstances leading to the capsizing remained under investigation.
Authorities said they would continue investigating what caused the vessel to overturn and whether any safety violations may have contributed to the tragedy.