6 Injured After Ferry Crashed Into Jetty In Hyannis Harbor, Massachusetts

A ferry boat crashed into a jetty in Hyannis Harbor, Massachusetts a little after 9.30 p.m. EDT Friday, injuring six people. The high-speed ferry was grounded on the rocks after the crash, as it began taking on the water.

Although the ferry Iyanough can hold up to 400 people, it was only carrying 48 passengers at the time the incident occurred.

Three out of the six people have been seriously injured, reported the authorities. According to the Hyannis Fire Department, they were unable to rescue any of the passengers onboard the ferry except for one who was seriously injured, because of extremely rough waters, CBS Boston reported.

Coast Guard Station at Brant Point, Nantucket, Massachusetts tweeted out a press release on the incident late night, Friday.

Around the time that the incident took place, National Weather Service in Taunton, Massachusetts, had reported three-foot-high waves in seas surrounding the ferry, with wind speed reaching 15 to 30 miles per hour, Boston Globe reported.

The passenger with serious injuries has been airlifted by a Coast Guard helicopter. Paramedics were able to reach inside the ferry and began treated the injured onboard with resources in hand.

The Coast Guard Sector Southeastern, New England, was notified of the incident around 10 p.m. EDT. Rescue boats and crews were sent to the scene of the crash from Coast Guard Stations Woods Hole, Chatham, and Brant Point.

According to a recent update posted by Brant Point Coastguards, a tugboat was en route from New Bedford.

Ambulances were waiting at the Barnstable Municipal Airport to transport the injured passengers to hospitals nearby. Other emergency agencies such as the Barnstable Police were also present at the scene of the evacuation. Rescue procedure is ongoing at the moment and emergency crews are trying to airlift the passengers as the ferry continues to be filled with water, local news outlet, Cape Cod reported.

Rescued passengers will be taken to the airport and then, transported to the Steamship terminal via buses.

Rescue crews are believed to work through the night to ensure that all the passengers have been safely transferred to the mainland. They will also be staying back to investigate the cause of the crash and assess the damages incurred to the ferry.

Hyannis Fire Captain Thomas Kenney said that he had never experienced an incident of this proportion in his career. “I got 35 years on the job and this is the first time a vessel this large has hit that breakwater,” Kenney told CBS Boston.

The ferry covers a distance of 26 miles between Nantucket, an island off Cape Cod, Massachusetts and Hyannis, carrying people to the mainland. According to Daily Journal, it is managed by Woods Hole, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority. Iyanough has been damaged once before in 2011, due rough weather.