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UPDATE: Police ID Boy, Woman Killed In Capsized Boat On Hudson River.
“My heart breaks for all those involved in today’s tragic boating accident,” New York Mayor Eric Adams said during a news conference on the Manhattan side of the river. “This is a devastating moment for their families and our city.”
The 50-year-old adult and boy were pulled from beneath the boat and taken to Mount Sinai and Bellevue hospitals, where they were pronounced dead, city authorities said. They hadn't been identified as of early Tuesday evening.
Two other passengers were reported in critical condition and a third was said to be critical but stable.
“This situation would have been much worse had it not been for the quick response of our emergency first responders,” NYPD Commissioner Keechant L Sewell told reporters.
Adams expressed gratitude to those who rushed to rescue nearly a dozen other passengers who survived the tragic ordeal.
That included New York Waterways ferries – the same as when a US Airways jet was forced to land in the river near the very same spot in January 2009.
The owner had been riding a jet ski behind the 27-foot recreational vehicle, which apparently had been chartered by a group of family and friends, when it overturned north of the Pier 79 midtown ferry terminal around 2:45 p.m. Tuesday, authorities said.
The rescue effort moved quickly to the New Jersey side of the river, however, first near Hoboken and then below Liberty State Park headed toward Bayonne.
It called to mind for many the drift of Flight 1549 after it splashed down further upriver 13½ years ago.
Two Waterways ferries, the Garden State and the John Stevens, rushed in and scooped nine passengers. The FDNY and NYPD rescued the others.
“We are so proud of the NY Waterway captains and crews that leapt into action today to rescue boaters following the maritime accident in the Hudson,” the ferry company tweeted. “Their training and professionalism saved lives, as they have countless times before.”
The U.S. Coast Guard re-righted the capsized boat.
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