At least sixteen individuals were sent to the hospital after two airboats collided with each other on Friday afternoon in the Florida Everglades, according to the police. The collision occurred near Tamiami Trail nearby.
Collier County was the location of the boating accident that prompted the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) to be dispatched to the scene at approximately 3:15 p.m. The Collier County Sheriff’s Office has stated that the collision took place in the region that is located south of the United States Route 41 East between mile markers 74 and 75.
According to the findings of the preliminary inquiry, one of the airboats was carrying a total of twenty passengers, while the second airboat had thirteen passengers on board. They collided close to Ochopee, and according to the Florida Department of Transportation, many people were injured.
Sixteen of those passengers were transported to hospitals in the surrounding area. Information regarding the severity of their wounds was not immediately made public.
In response to a request for comment made by CBS News Miami, Wooten’s Everglades Airboat Tours, the company that operated at least one of the vessels involved, expressed their concern over the collision that occurred on Friday and stated that they are cooperating with authorities in their investigation.
“All of us at Wooten’s offer our sincere sympathies to everyone involved, and wish them a speedy recovery,” the organization added in its statement.
At this time, the circumstances surrounding the collision are still being investigated.
A total of three airboats have been involved in accidents in the Everglades this year. At least a dozen people had minor injuries as a result of an airboat accident that occurred in Southwest Miami-Dade County in January. An airboat operator was arrested for operating a vessel without a license two months later after he flipped a vessel that was carrying ten people across the Everglades in western Miami-Dade County. The incident occurred in the middle of the county.
Reference: At least 16 people hospitalized after 2 airboats crash in the Florida Everglades
