Boat crash with Fisher Island ferry is second deadly accident involving ferry since 2020
Sunday’s early morning boat crash that killed one man and injured another, resulting in the closure of PortMiami for nearly 12 hours, was the second deadly accident involving the ferry in the past three years.
On Feb. 19, 2020, a freak accident claimed the lives of Emma Afra, 63, and her passenger, 75-year-old Viviane Brahms, of Harrison, N.Y. when investigators believe Afra forgot to put her Mercedes in park and hit the gas pedal by mistake when the vehicle started rolling.
READ MORE: PortMiami reopens to cruise ships after sunken boat raised from fatal ferry collision
Hours later, police divers found the car upside down 52 feet below the surface. It was a heart-wrenching scene: The two friends were discovered in an embrace in the back seat of the car, according to multiple sources.
Sunday’s crash happened around 3:40 a.m. east of the Pilot House Station at Dodge Island, the island of cruise ship passenger terminals that draws the attention of many crossing the MacArthur Causeway between Miami Beach and Miami.
Miami Fire Rescue Lt. Pete Sanchez said the U.S. Coast Guard told Miami Fire Rescue Fireboat 15 that a 30-foot boat hit the ferry in the channel. One man was pulled out of the water by ferry workers, handed to the Coast Guard, then to Miami Fire Rescue for transport to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center.
You can read more about the 2020 crash here.
