NEW YORK, Oct. 15 (UPI) -- Nearly a dozen people died Wednesday in an accident involving a 310-foot long ferry that rammed a Staten Island terminal in New York Harbor.
The cause of the 3:30 p.m. EDT accident was not immediately determined, but witnesses said the boat did not seem to reduce speed before impact. Winds were reported at about 40 miles per hour.
WNBC-TV reported one of the vessel's two captains went home after the accident and tried to kill himself by cutting his wrists and shooting himself with a BB gun. He was reportedly being treated at an area hospital.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg told reporters: "What we know is there are 10 confirmed deaths and 34 people removed to hospital. Some of the injuries are serious."
WNBC-TV said passengers were jammed into the vessel's forward section, preparing to disembark. Rescuers pulled some of the passengers from the water.
"It was like an absolute horror," Bob Carroll, who was aboard the ferry, told television state NY1. "The whole side of the boat looked like an opener on a can."
The National Transportation Safety Board was to investigate the accident, which occurred as the ferry arrived at St. George's Terminal.
Named the Andrew J. Barberi, the Staten Island ferry has a listed capacity of 6,000 passengers and 15 crew members but was believed to be carrying about 1,500 at the time of the accident.
