One person dead and multiple injured after boat crashes into ferry in Florida

One person has died and several people were injured on Sunday when a boat crashed in Florida.

Emergency services were called to the Memorial Causeway Bridge after the boat hit the ferry and then fled the scene just after 10pm local time.

The Clearwater Police Department posted on X that there were multiple injuries and the crash had been declared ‘a mass casualty incident’ by the Clearwater Fire & Rescue Department.

It was not immediately clear how many people were injured in the crash, however, 45 people were believed to be on the ferry.

The post said: ‘All local hospitals have been notified. Multiple trauma alerts have been called with helicopters transporting two of the more seriously injured.’

The boat that fled the scene near the Memorial Causeway Bridge had been identified by another police force, and an investigation was underway, it added.

‘All of the injuries are from the ferry. The boat that struck the ferry fled the scene,’ Clearwater Police Department said on social media.

‘The ferry came to rest on a sandbar just south of the Memorial Causeway Bridge. All patients and passengers have been removed,’ police added.

The incident happened at the end of the 17-day Sugar Sand Festival on Sunday night and many people were taking the ferry back and forth for the festival, it was reported.

An ABC News affiliate cited Clearwater Mayor Bruce Rector as saying the boat that collided with the ferry was privately owned.

Videos on social media showed several first responders rushing to the scene with lights flashing.

Police told drivers to avoid the Memorial Causeway.

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