U.S. Coast Guard officials are releasing new details about their response to a boat crash near Boca Chita Key that left a teen girl dead and several others injured over the weekend.
A total of 14 people were on the 29-foot boat when it struck a channel marker in the Intracoastal waterway near the south end of Cutter Bank in Miami-Dade County around 6:30 p.m. Sunday, a report from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said.
But Coast Guard officials said Thursday that their crew received a call about the crash at 6:50 p.m., about 20 minutes later.
And the initial call for help was made via cell phone, not through a marine VHF radio, officials said.
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"Cell phones can be extremely unreliable especially depending on where you are on the water, you may not have reception, the battery could die," Coast Guard Petty Officer Ryan Estrada said.
The Coast Guard timeline shows good Samaritans were the first to jump into action and help the 14 people, who were all ejected from the boat.
Local
Witness David Sands saw the response and watched as Miami-Dade Fire Rescue airlifted one critically injured teen to a local hospital, as Miami-Dade Marine Patrol rendered aid to others.
"I was probably 20 feet away and there were two girls laying on the back deck there and he was like checking to see if they had a pulse or anything like that," Sands said.
One passenger on the boat, 17-year-old Luciana "Lucy" Fernandez, a senior at Lourdes Academy, died as a result of the injuries she sustained in the crash.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is investigating the crash, and said they do not believe alcohol was a contributing factor.
