NYPD: Two dead after boat capsizes in Hudson River

July 12 (UPI) -- Two people, including a 7-year-old boy, died after a chartered boat they were aboard with family and friends capsized in the Hudson River in lower Manhattan, authorities and officials said.

The boat with a dozen people on board overturned Tuesday afternoon by the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum near Pier 86.

NYPD Assistant Chief James McCarthy told reporters during a Tuesday evening press conference that a 7-year-old boy and a 50-year-old woman died after becoming trapped under the capsized boat.

Divers deployed amid the rescue operation brought the boy and the woman unresponsive to the surface of the water. They were both later pronounced dead, authorities said.

At least two others are in critical condition at area hospitals, including the captain of the boat.

NYDP Commissioner Keechant Sewell told reporters that a 911 call came in about the overturned vessel at 2:46 p.m. with resources immediately deployed with NY Waterway ferries rescuing nine of the boat's passengers from the river.

"This is a tragic day for New Yorkers. Indeed, it may have well been worse for not the incredible effort by not only our own extraordinary first responders but also the swift response from the New York Waterway ferries who rescued nine additional people from the water," Sewell said.

NY Waterway tweeted two ferries, the Garden State and the Johns Stevens, had participated in the rescue operation.

The cause of the boat capsizing is unknown and currently under investigation.

Inspector Anthony Russo of the Harbor Unit explained that there are several issues that could have been contributing factors to the incident, and that they will upright the vessel, pull video and examine the water conditions to have a better idea of what happened.

"There's a lot of commercial and recreational traffic during the day here. We also have a lot of people on jet skies, kayaks. We had the current, the wind. So you could have wakes approaching from different directions, waves from different directions," he said. "It takes some skill to operate in the Hudson River."

McCarthy said they plan to retrieve the boat in the next few hours with one of the issues they will be looking at being is if the boat was over capacity.

"It's a clear reminder to us as we move through the summer months, the water is an enjoyable part of New York, but it could be a dangerous place," Mayor Erik Adams said.