One child, two adults missing after ferry capsizes

A ferry that capsized in a sudden storm on Baltimore Harbour was towed to a dock as divers searched for three people, including a child, who were still missing.

One woman was killed and two others, including an eight-year-old girl, were critically injured when the 36ft pontoon boat overturned with 23 passengers and two crew members on Saturday.

Naval reservists who saw the accident near historic Fort McHenry rushed to the scene, rescuing 21 people from the cold water, described heavy rain pouring from black clouds as the wind and currents made the harbour choppy.

“It was pretty hateful,” Petty Officer Henry Zecher said. “I’m relieved that we were able to save as many lives as we were.”

Petty Officer Jeffrey King said survivors were clinging to the overturned ferry, telling the reservists that others were trapped below. He said the reservists used a ramp on their troop landing ship to lift the water taxi partly out of the water.

“Brother, it was like the end of the Titanic movie once that thing lifted up,” PO King said. “I mean those bodies just floated up.”

Lieutenant Commander Art Eisenstein said he jumped into the water and grabbed a little girl who was unconscious and floating face-down.

“Just to hear that she’s still with us is just amazing,” he said.

The ferry had just set off across the harbour from Fort McHenry on the way to the city’s Fells Point when it was caught by wind gusting to 50 mph. The boat, which was at full capacity, was equipped with life preservers but passengers are not required to wear them.

“No one on the craft had time to get their life preservers on,” said police Major Frederick Bealfeld.

Twenty-two people were removed from the water but one woman died at a hospital. Seven remained in hospital today. The water temperature was around 5C.

Yesterday, recovery crews used boats, helicopters, sonar and dogs trained to find submerged bodies in the search for the three missing people.

The missing were a man, a woman and a child, said Baltimore Fire Chief William Goodwin.

Investigators said they were looking at the weather and the condition and operation of the vessel as possible factors in the accident.

Investigators were interviewing witnesses and passengers.

The boat’s captain, Francis Deppner, was among those who talked to investigators, said Tracey Weinberg, a spokeswoman for the Living Classrooms Foundation, which operates the 11 Seaport Taxis.

The boat “was ready for an inspection on Monday and in shape the way she should be”, said the organisation’s president, James Bond.

The accident occurred near the mount of the Inner Harbour, one of the oldest seaports in the US, which draws millions of tourists to stroll along brick promenades lined with shops, seafood restaurants and museums.