MIAMI – Two individuals had been killed and practically a dozen others had been injured when two boats collided late Friday evening close to Key Biscayne.
“The screaming was very disturbing, of course, they were saying we’re going to die, we cannot swim,” stated Xavier Ruiz.
He was boating with 5 of his associates a couple of mile away when he stated he heard cries for help.
“It was very dark, remember it was like 10:30 pm, we just saw heads floating and people screaming in desperation. They were telling us they couldn’t swim and they were going to die,” stated Ruiz.
He stated they instantly known as 911 and tried to get nearer to them nevertheless it was so darkish he might barely see the individuals within the water and did not need to threat hitting anybody.
“There was a lady holding an infant, they were screaming a lot and there was another girl maybe around 10, 12 years old, they couldn’t swim and there was another girl behind and then a body floating between them,” stated Ruiz.
Once they bought shut sufficient, he stated they began to throw life jackets to them within the water. He distinctly remembers the younger lady attempting to get to the life jacket.
“The girl did grab on to that, she did not know how to swim so we had to give her some tips like saying try to do like a dog so you can get closer to the life jacket. It was maybe like three feet away from her but it took her a few minutes to grab onto the life jacket,” stated Ruiz.
He stated inside seven minutes of being there fireplace rescue arrived.
“We saw the rescue team arrive, boat and helicopter, in fact, we used our cellphones to give them some guidance towards the crash,” stated Ruiz.
He stated in the mean time they had been so centered on attempting to help the individuals they could not course of what was actually occurring. By Sunday, he stated they had been feeling the results of that evening.
“It’s very surreal because you don’t expect in the middle of the night, in the middle of the water, a mile off Key Biscaybe or maybe less to hear this coming from the water. It’s just, it’s really surreal and then to see two boats, one was sinking, the other actually pulling the other down,” stated Ruiz.
The Coast Guard stated they pulled 10 individuals from the water and recovered one physique, the second physique was recovered by Miami-Dade Fire Rescue.
A complete of 9 survivors had been taken to Mercy Hospital.
